Mr. Speaker, I would point out for my hon. friend that the motion requesting documents to be provided was only made yesterday and passed yesterday in committee. That request last evening went into the department for a response. We expect that response to be coming forthwith and it will be provided as soon as possible.
However, I would also make a comment on one of the inferences that my hon. colleague made in his submission dealing with what he called a character assassination of Mr. Richard Colvin.
Mr. Speaker, I would point out to you that it is the right of every parliamentarian during testimony in any committee to question the witness and the content of that testimony. That is what our members on that committee did and they did so respectfully. At the conclusion of his testimony, Mr. Colvin actually admitted that by thanking committee members from all sides for their fairness in the way they dealt with him during that committee appearance.
I should also point out, as most Canadians know by today, that in yesterday's testimony three of the most eminent Canadians, who represented this country admirably in the Canadian armed forces, disputed almost entirely the testimony of Mr. Colvin, yet I do not know whether my hon. colleague would call that or characterize that as character assassination.
Mr. Speaker, if you compare the testimony in yesterday's hearing with the testimony from some of the government members in questioning Mr. Colvin at his appearance, you will find that there is a connect. In other words, the questions that our committee members raised and posed to Mr. Colvin were not only legitimate but they were accurate in their assessments.
Therefore, I would ask my hon. colleague, in his submission, to perhaps stand once again and retract that portion of his testimony where he called it a character assassination of Mr. Colvin. It was anything but, and that was proven yesterday.