Mr. Speaker, I am not sure if the word is “pleased”, but I am really happy to have the opportunity to join this debate. It is clearly an important and very passionate debate about the integration of the forces on Parliament Hill for the protection of all parliamentarians and Canadians on the Hill.
As I listen to some of the motives that get impugned, I would say that there is not a person in the House who does not have the utmost respect for the work that our security forces do. We are profoundly grateful for the support they provided to us on October 22, and indeed every day.
While listening to the debate, I have been trying to think of an analogy. As I have mentioned a few times in the past, I come from a health care background. I was part of some of the change management work that had to be done. I will give an example.
I went into an organization that was treating people with significant chronic diseases. In taking care of patients, they would have dietitians, physiotherapists, physicians, and nurses all providing excellent care. These people were all providing excellent care in their field of expertise, but in isolation from what everyone else was doing. Just as it was here, that isolation was identified as not being in people's best interests. Accordingly, I think we are all on the same page here in agreeing on the significant need for integration and the importance of that.
It was a really tough job to get people together, even sharing records, because there were independent practitioners, health authorities, and small business folks. How would we get these folks to work in the best interests of the patient and start to share the support and services together? We went through that process and then we had to decide who would be the case manager.
When we were looking at that, it was not a matter of who provided the best service or who had the best training. Everyone was recognized for their important expertise in roles they brought to the table. We picked as case managers the people who were more integrated with the outside world, the community as a whole. The best connector was the person who was in the best position to coordinate the work of all the very excellent medical practitioners.
I do not see that as unlike what we are doing here. Who is the connector who will be able to connect the security to the wider whole? During this debate, I noticed there were a number of us in the House who are still a little jumpy. There was a huge unidentified noise on the roof of the building and a number of people all of a sudden jumped. What was that?
Maybe some other people are not aware, but four days before the incident on Parliament Hill on October 22, my staff member was in the office and there was a plane going back and forth over the parliamentary precinct. She was very agitated. Obviously the plane was in a no-fly zone. She did not know what it was going to do. She phoned the Hill security, but how are we best to connect to that greater whole? That is what this about.
This is about the security of Canadians and the security of parliamentarians. I have to say that the opposition members are showing a bit of a lack of faith in the Speakers of these honourable places. This is clearly like the situation in every province, where they determine whether or not they want to have a provincial police force or how they want to structure the police forces within their province and communities. These become negotiated agreements that are very reflective of the needs of their communities and what they are doing.
If we go back to the motion, with respect to the terrorist attack of October 22, 2014, it recognizes:
...the necessity of fully integrated security throughout the Parliamentary precinct and the grounds of Parliament Hill, as recommended by the Auditor General in his 2012 report and as exists in other peer legislatures; and call on the Speaker, in coordination with his counterpart in the Senate, to invite, without delay, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to lead operational security throughout the Parliamentary precinct and the grounds of Parliament Hill...
The following point is important. Again, this is something that opposition members are putting out in terms of their privileges and immunities. It reads:
...while respecting the privileges, immunities and powers of the respective Houses, and ensuring the continued employment of our existing and respected Parliamentary Security staff.
I think opposition members are presuming a lot of things that are not accurate. The motion is very clear about respecting privileges and immunities. What we are talking about is the need for greater connectivity within the whole.
When I first became a parliamentarian, I remember being very surprised that the Senate security was very different from the House of Commons. Then I learned about the structure. I remember many people saying that it did not make sense and that it was probably in our best interests to have a coordinated service, but it seemed as though it was a challenge to make those changes. I suppose October 22 spearheaded these changes, but they are changes that I think people have identified for a long time as needing to come forward.
The RCMP has connectivity with the broader intelligence that is out there. There is connectivity to resources. Again, this is not about the excellent work that our staff does; it is about the broader resources that are available in terms of extensive experience in security assessments, information sharing, and evolving threats. They have to deal with threats in many other areas.
I think we are going to have a difficult change. There is no question that it is going to be a challenge, but I think it is an important change. I believe that 10 years from now we are going to be saying that our Speakers have done a good job, our parliamentary security is in a good position, and we made sure that we have the protection and support we need.
We have to recognize that our security staff serve a variety of important functions, and we fully expect that will continue under the integrated security unit. All decisions related to the integrated security unit will ensure continuous employment and will be managed with full transparency.
I will go back to my original example of a patient who is struggling with many different issues and is surrounded by caregivers. There may be family members, dietitians, nutritionists, and physicians who have to be integrated, number one, but they will also need to realize who is in the best position and who can connect to the wider whole. In this case, I think we are trying to do what is best for the security of the personnel on the Hill—