Mr. Speaker, I am standing in support of the representations made by my colleague in the House of Commons, the member for Windsor—Tecumseh. I serve as a vice-chair of the subcommittee and was quite shocked when I read the National Post and saw the article, which actually really talks about what might be in the interim report. I was quite surprised because I know the member for Leeds—Grenville is a responsible member of the House.
Like my colleague from Windsor—Tecumseh, I had many calls from the national media, calls from the Toronto Star and the Globe and Mail. I went to the clerk of the committee, who reports to the chair, and asked the clerk, “When does this report become public and when am I able to speak to this report?” I was told that because the report of the subcommittee went to the main committee, until the main committee tabled the report in the House the report was confidential.
I must say I had people from the national media trying to tell me what might or might not be in the report and I know it was very tempting to get into the fray. I had to say to them that I would not act against the rules of the House. The rules of the House, as my colleague from Windsor—Tecumseh has pointed out, are quite clear and are set out in the House of Commons Procedure and Practice on pages 884 and 885. There are many precedents.
I do feel that my privileges also have been breached. If we are going to work together in this minority Parliament to advance the interests of all Canadians, this sort of thing, this kind of breach of confidentiality, must not be tolerated. I would ask the Speaker to support the interventions of my colleague and the co-vice-chair of the Subcommittee on the Review of the Anti-terrorism Act.