Mr. Speaker, the federal government has never acknowledged its responsibility for contaminated water in Shannon, nor has it compensated the victims. It has employed all kinds of delay tactics and unusual procedures in order to hinder legal action taken by the victims. In particular, it has attempted to prevent a class action lawsuit and force each plaintiff to file an individual suit against the Department of National Defence. At present, the federal government is again holding up their case by not providing documents that they need to prepare their suit and imposing unreasonable fees for providing them.
If his government is not responsible for the environmental and human disaster in Shannon, as he claims, what does the defence department have to hide? If he is not willing to acknowledge the harm caused by the department and compensate the victims, he should at least demonstrate good faith, transparency and justice and provide the victims' lawyer with the documents requested.