Mr. Speaker, let me thank my colleague who does a fine job of chairing the public accounts committee and has actually put an enormous amount of time and effort into working with all of the committee members, frankly. It is not just the opposition that has worked on this whole issue of establishing a protocol.
We are the ones who get elected, not the people in the executive across the street, in the PMO in the Langevin Building or anywhere else. Parliamentarians such as yourself, Mr. Speaker, with your past history and knowledge could probably write a protocol on this very important issue. We are elected parliamentarians and we are the ones who are ultimately responsible.
That is the reason we worked so hard as a committee on this very protocol. We were very disappointed when Treasury Board refused to work with us on the issue. In fact, it produced its own protocol just before ours was issued. That is totally contrary to how the government is supposed to be working, especially given the fact that the Conservatives had campaigned on good government, accountability, transparency and so on.
It is nothing short of a farce that they are now not supporting us as we move forward as a committee to ensure that we have good transparency, accountability and honesty in government.
We need to know who is accountable. That is one of the frustrating things for all of us who sit on the committee, but even as parliamentarians. Who is accountable? That is the issue. We are currently dealing with additional issues. Who is accountable at the end of the day?
Parliamentarians are accountable to the taxpayers and to the general public. We have to ensure that we are doing our job. That is the reason why a good strong protocol is required.