Mr. Speaker, the basic principle of this place is that the government has to be accountable to Parliament. This principle is fundamental to the proper functioning of this place.
If any government minister stands in his place and misleads the House on a consistent and repeated basis, that obstructs the ability of the House to do its job and fulfill its essential function on behalf of the Canadian people.
What the Minister of National Defence and other members of the government have claimed in this House has been clearly and directly contradicted in material that is now available to the Canadian public from the Chief of the Defence Staff.
Today, we have provided the minister, in this House, with every opportunity to withdraw his earlier claims and to clear the record. However, he has failed to do so. The Prime Minister failed to do so.
On countless occasions, including on December 2, the Minister of National Defence has said:
There has never been a single, solitary proven allegation of abuse of a detainee, a Taliban prisoner, transferred by Canadian Forces. That is the issue.
The Minister of National Defence said previously, on November 23:
There has never been a single proven allegation of abuse involving a prisoner transferred by the Canadian Forces, not one.
Also on November 23, the Minister of National Defence said:
There has not been a single proven allegation involving a prisoner transferred from the Canadian Forces.
The Minister of National Defence, again on November 23, said:
there has not been a single, solitary, proven allegation of a prisoner being abused that was transferred from the Canadian Forces....
On November 23, he also said;
It is also important to note, again, that not a single, solitary, proven allegation involving a transfer of a Taliban prisoner from the Canadian Forces has been proven.
On November 19, he said:
Mr. Speaker, it has been stated here a number of times that there has not been a single, solitary proven allegation of abuse involving a transferred Taliban prisoner by Canadian Forces.
I could continue at some length on this—