Madam Speaker, this is a question of privilege.
Following my one-hour notice under Standing Order 48 concerning the report that you gave the House earlier today, the government has not complied with the order of the House adopted last Wednesday, June 2. This is a disappointing and troubling state of affairs that undermines our Parliament: one of the world's oldest continuously functioning democratic bodies.
As Speaker Milliken so clearly said in 2010, you are at a serious impasse. As your esteemed predecessor said in a widely commended ruling on April 27, 2010, at page 2042 of the Debates, “Before us are issues that question the very foundations upon which our parliamentary system is built. In a system of responsible government, the fundamental right of the House of Commons to hold the government to account for its actions is an indisputable privilege and in fact an obligation.”
The current obligation comes from the opposition motion adopted on Wednesday afternoon. It is recorded at pages 1023 and 1024 of the Journals, and the main items of the motion that relate to this question of privilege state, and I quote:
That an order of the House do issue for the unredacted version of all documents produced by the Public Health Agency of Canada in response to the March 31, 2021, and May 10, 2021, orders of the Special Committee on Canada-China Relations, respecting the transfer of Ebola and Henipah viruses to the Wuhan Institute of Virology in March 2019, and the subsequent revocation of security clearances for, and termination of the employment of, Dr. Xiangguo Qiu and Dr. Keding Cheng, provided that:
(a) these documents shall be deposited with the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel, in both official languages, within 48 hours of the adoption of this order;
(b) the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel shall promptly thereafter notify the Speaker, who shall forthwith inform the House, whether he is satisfied the documents—