Mr. Speaker, absolutely. I noticed the member for Kingston and the Islands asked in his last two questions, for which no rulings were made by the Chair occupant at the time, who should be named in the motion. Of course, the president of PHAC is named because he signed the letters, but I am wondering this: Which ministers would he like to amend the motion to name to also have admonished or censured? Would that then bring him onside to vote in favour of this transparency mechanism?
In saying that, I would also remind the House that the Liberals filibustered the finance committee for 35 hours, the Standing Committee on National Defence for 16 hours and the foreign affairs committee for more than 10 hours. There were many other filibusters, including at the health committee, where there was also an issue with documents not being tabled in keeping with an order from parliamentarians.
We have this gross problem with the current government because it believes that if it provides a rationale, the laws do not apply to it anymore. That is not how this works. Canadians expect us to govern ourselves to the highest standard, and we have seen anything but with the government. This is a straight up-and-down issue. It is a question of whether the government believes the rules apply to it or not. If the Liberals do not believe the laws apply to them, frankly, that is an admission that they are not fit to govern, because the arguments they have put forward this evening are absolutely insufficient. Canadians deserve better than a government that is unwilling to follow the rule of law. The lawful authority has made decisions, with respect, and there is precedent that establishes that these documents can be ordered. We have confidence that the Law Clerk will exercise its function appropriately and provide these documents to parliamentarians in a way that provides consideration for national security interests. It is not a question of giving them to a group of parliamentarians who report to the Prime Minister: We are asking the government to demonstrate its ability, or a minimum willingness, to be accountable to Canadians.