Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to rise in the House and to follow the remarks made by my colleague from Newfoundland. He spoke very eloquently and no doubt is going to be a fine parliamentarian in the same vein as the speaker previous to him, my colleague the House leader of the New Democratic Party.
I am pleased to speak tonight with respect to the Liberal government's mishandling of what is now becoming the APEC security issue and the scandal surrounding it.
Day after day in this House, the Canadian public and we in this chamber have been subjected to the repeated evasions and diversions to questions about the role of the Prime Minister in this matter. There is also the matter of the government's selected perception as to the role of the RCMP Public Complaints Commission in investigating last November's crackdown at the APEC summit in Vancouver.
The issue extends well beyond whether the RCMP were out of line in security measures they used against protesters. It extends beyond the appropriateness of former Indonesian President Suharto even being here on an official state visit.
At the heart of the issue is the mounting evidence that the Prime Minister and his office staff interfered with the RCMP in the arrangement of security to basically placate the wishes of a foreign dictator, to avoid offending him. We have seen e-mails, memorandums and notebooks which express the wishes of the Prime Minister and his staff. They are referenced there quite clearly.
We have also witnessed the Prime Minister in the thick of the protest. Camera angles have caught him at that. Even the Prime Minister's assertion that he was not, in the words of the NDP, barking out orders, it certainly raises questions as to what was taking place at that time.
At the very least, the Prime Minister should be given the opportunity, and I suggest he has the opportunity, to rise in this House and clarify contradictory statements made about the handling of this affair.
A ministerial statement in the House is appropriate. That is why my colleagues in the Conservative Party and I have been calling for the Prime Minister to make such a statement in this House and clearly outline what role he played in directing the RCMP during the security at APEC.
That is why as well we put a motion before the justice committee to conduct an independent review of the relationship between the PMO and the RCMP to determine whether political interference occurred in APEC and whether there are grounds to look at this further and perhaps clarify the boundaries of what the Prime Minister's role should be in political interference when the RCMP are handling matters such as this.
Canadians rightfully want answers and the government continues to throw up smoke. It points to the inquiry conducted by the RCMP Public Complaints Commission into the APEC role as a means to get to the bottom of these questions.
Regardless of the commission's inquiry, nothing prevents the Prime Minister from speaking to this matter in the House. It would not interfere with the inquiry in any way, shape or form. In fact it might raise new questions for the commission to pursue.
I suggest the cloud that hangs over the commission further complicates the matter because the commission's mandate is intended to focus on complaints directed toward the RCMP. It has nothing to do with political interference. The commission is headed by a chairperson who has made political donations to the Liberal Party of Canada, thus bringing into question the arm's length integrity of that person, sadly.
The recommendations that that commission might make in any event are not binding. The report is then made to the RCMP commissioner or the solicitor general himself, thus further undermining the integrity of that commission.
Clearly what we need to have happen in this case is have the Prime Minister stand in his place in this chamber and give Canadians what they deserve: accountability and responsible leadership in government.
Canadians need an investigative process that is open, transparent and accountable and also has the appearance of such. I call again upon the government and the Prime Minister to clarify what exactly took place in Vancouver. Let us stop the stonewalling. Let us stop talking about what the commission is charged with doing and talk about what the commission is not charged with doing, and that is the accountability of the Prime Minister and political interference that is alleged in this matter.