Mr. Speaker, I will ask the secretary of state for financial institutions about the amendment carried by the finance committee that would allow trade unions representing security workers to sit on boards of directors of new crown corporations. He said it was democratic because parliament would decide.
I remind the secretary of state that a committee of the House is also parliament. It is part of parliament. It is not a committee of the whole where the Prime Minister's Office can override what parliamentary committees have decided. Parliamentary committees have more expertise on issues than parliament as a whole because people from all five parties who sit on the committees are responsible to know and study the issues, hear and question witnesses, and consider seriously all the amendments put forward.
The finance committee in its wisdom decided to support the amendment. Members from all political parties voted yes. Is the secretary of state comfortable with the role the Prime Minister's Office has played by overriding, through the Minister of Transport, the wisdom of the finance committee?
Surely to goodness we could have some independence from the secretary of state across the way. Surely he or some other minister could say he was uncomfortable with the interference of the Prime Minister's Office in overriding the wishes of the committee. If not, why do we have committees? Why do we waste our time going to committees? Why do we put all the time into the issue if the Prime Minister's Office can come in here and say it does not matter anyway? Why do we put in the time if the PMO can override the witnesses, disregard the wisdom of all the Liberal and opposition members of parliament and ignore what the committee is saying?