Mr. Speaker, may I again repeat that the expectation was that there would be 24 hours notice of the funeral of King Hussein. Unfortunately there was inadequate time for the Prime Minister to leave western Canada for Amman, Jordan and to arrive in time for the funeral arrangements prepared by the Jordanian authorities. Therefore it was simply physically impossible for the Prime Minister to attend. It is with regret that he was unable to attend.
The member knows full well that when there was a disaster in northern Quebec recently the Prime Minister quickly changed his plans to make himself available to be there for that ceremony.
He indeed sent staff from his own office to Amman to make arrangements but—