Mr. Speaker, I am rising to address the question of privilege raised yesterday by the member for Regina—Qu'Appelle. I would note that this matter was previously raised in a meeting of the committee of the whole on July 8.
The member raised concerns about the Prime Minister's response to a question in the committee of the whole on July 8. The exchange concerned the Ethics Commissioner's investigation on a matter last year. The member argued that the Prime Minister misled the House when he stated that the government took the unprecedented step of waiving cabinet confidentiality and solicitor-client confidentiality so that the Ethics Commissioner could fully investigate the matter at hand. The member argued that the matter was not fully investigated, because the Ethics Commissioner reported that he did not have access to additional cabinet confidences.
The Prime Minister's response is not being taken into proper context. It is clear that the Prime Minister was speaking about the government's rationale for taking an unprecedented step to co-operate with the Ethics Commissioner. Furthermore, fully investigating a matter does not mean that the Ethics Commissioner must have full access to all cabinet confidences and to all solicitor-client privileged information. It means that the commissioner has the information he needs to fulfill his duties under the Conflict of Interest Act. This means that the commissioner is able to examine a matter and to produce a report that sets out the facts in question and provides the commissioner's analysis and conclusions.
As a result, the issue raised by the member is, at best, a dispute as to the facts and does not meet the threshold of constituting a prima facie question of privilege.
The Conflict of Interest Act does not provide the Ethics Commissioner authority to access cabinet confidences or solicitor-client privileged information for an investigation. Parliament did not grant this authority to the commissioner when it passed the act in 2006. Authority to disclose cabinet confidence or waive solicitor-client privilege rests with the executive branch of government.
This government is committed to transparency and accountability. This government has co-operated with the Ethics Commissioner to ensure that the commissioner is able to examine matters and produce reports.
Regarding the matter at hand, the government recognized that certain cabinet confidence and certain solicitor-client privileged information could be important to the commissioner's investigation. The Prime Minister's response on July 8 explains the basis for the government's decision to take an unprecedented step of issuing an order in council to authorize the disclosure of cabinet confidences to the Ethics Commissioner and to waive solicitor-client privilege.
The government wanted to co-operate with the Ethics Commissioner so that he could fully investigate the matter on the merits and produce a report, and this is what the Ethics Commissioner was able to do.
The commissioner stated as much in his report when he wrote, “In the present examination, I have gathered sufficient factual information to properly determine the matter on its merits.” The member himself quoted this statement when he raised this issue on July 8.
Accordingly, I submit that the member for Regina—Qu'Appelle has raised a matter that is a dispute as to the facts and does not constitute a prima facie question of privilege.