Mr. Chair, I am not surprised at the parliamentary secretary taking a different position from mine. We have been having this fight for the better part of several months, not just between ourselves but between myself and a number of members of the justice committee.
He consistently throws the section of the RCMP Act at us, but he consistently, and he did it again this evening, does not quote the whole section.
Section 5.1 reads “that the governor in council”, that basically is the cabinet in these circumstances, “may appoint an officer to be known as the commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who”, and this is the part he always leaves out, “under the direction of the minister”, and then goes on with what he always quotes, “has the control and management of the force and all matters connected therewith”.
There is a role for the minister; it is a legislated role. It is, quite frankly, a role that is the responsibility of the minister in a representative government. That is what we have with the Westminster system which says that “you are responsible as the minister” and cannot hide behind part of this section of the act.
When we deal specifically with the Quebec situation, we are talking about a policy decision, one that has been adopted by a number of countries. It does not say it is right and it is one that the minister should have been involved in. She has refused to do that. She has consistently said that she will not get involved. I believe what she has been consistently saying is that she is shirking her responsibilities under section 5.1 of the act.