Mr. Speaker, it is somewhat disruptive in the sense that one tries to expand upon what one thinks is the core issue and then there are interruptions that come from the government side. I appreciate that there is some sensitivity, but I can honestly say that if the member from B.C. had listened closely to what I was citing as an example, the member would have heard how very relevant it is to the privilege that was raised by the NDP House leader. The privilege is all about information. It is about the rights of all members, not just opposition members. Believe it or not, there are even some Conservative backbenchers who would no doubt share the same opinion that I would have in regard to the importance of having information in order to make good decisions.
The example that I was giving in this budget document is that we are not talking about $10 million, we are talking about $100-plus million. These are tax dollars that are being allocated to provide compensation for those individuals who put in an application to become skilled workers to fill many of the jobs that we are unable to fill here in Canada. The Minister of Immigration made that decision.
I believe there is information that is critical for us to know. The immigration file is not alone. For example, does the government realize that those individuals who put in the application also would have paid for immigration services back home, consultant fees and so forth. It was not just a hard cost. Are they being fairly compensated?
I understand that now there is a possibility of a class action lawsuit against the government. We need to know that kind of information. We just need to look at the F-35. We know the government knew it had completely different figures and it sat on those numbers.
Parliamentarians of all political stripes need to understand just how important it is that we have access to that information. The NDP House leader stood in his place and argued that we are being denied that access. If we are being denied that access, how is it possible for us to make the decisions that are so critically important to all Canadians.
If we look at Beauchesne's Sixth Edition—