Mr. Speaker, I will be brief.
I would like to bring up two points. First, the government representative said that we had not raised this question of privilege at the earliest opportunity. I remind members that Justice Iacobucci's mandate was presented to the House on Tuesday. That was the first time we had seen it. In the hours that followed, we prepared a motion, of which you have a copy, Mr. Speaker. We also worked with the NDP. It seems as though we acted as quickly as possible.
Second, I also remind the House that Justice Iacobucci's mandate has no time frame.
This morning, Amnesty International announced that it could be up to two years before the Special Committee on the Canadian Mission in Afghanistan has access to the documents. I am sure everyone will agree that a lot can happen in two years, and we need to find the truth as quickly as possible.
I will conclude by saying that the government is being completely unreasonable if it does not accept these proposals. The Bloc worked with the NDP to create a motion to maximize cooperation between the opposition and the government.
I remind members that the second paragraph of the suggested motion states:
That it be an instruction to the Special Committee on Canada's Mission in Afghanistan to adopt rules and procedures for the reception and handling of the documents demanded by the House order of December 10th, 2009, in a manner that safeguards national security and other confidentiality requirements while respecting parliamentary privilege, after receiving advice from the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel;
I think that is reasonable. It was also brought up by the Liberal member.
I trust your good judgment, Mr. Speaker, as you review our question of privilege.