Mr. Speaker, this is a very grave incident, on the day when the Government of Canada was welcoming the head of state of Ukraine, a country that is undergoing an unjust and illegal invasion, that there was a guest in the gallery whose presence fed into the Russian propaganda and narrative about the bogus justification for Putin's illegal invasion.
State visits are organized by the government. Every aspect of President Zelenskyy's visit would have been highly managed by the PMO. There are incredible security concerns. When we have not just a head of state, not just a foreign dignitary, but someone whose people are fighting for their lives and their survival, someone who is targeted by Vladimir Putin's regime, obviously, there are massive security implications.
Your statement, Mr. Speaker, does not answer questions around how this individual was vetted, how the government, which would have seen all aspects, all guest lists and all interactions with President Zelenskyy, would have allowed that person to be in the chamber.
Members of Parliament do not have the ability to vet who might happen to be in the chamber on any given day. That is the responsibility of the director of Parliamentary Protective Service, who reports to the Minister of Public Safety. The coordination between the Prime Minister's Office, the protocol office here in the House of Commons and that protective service is what members trust is happening to ensure that things like that do not happen.
If someone of that background, which a straightforward Google search would show served in that particular division during World War II, if that basic level of vetting was not done by the government, that raises serious concerns. What kind of message does that send to our allies around the world, that when they come to the House of Commons to address the House and Senate that this basic rudimentary vetting as to who might be in the galleries is not done? That is incredible.
Therefore, Mr. Speaker, we will take your statement under advisement. We will have more to say on this, but there are still many questions that need to be answered as to how the Prime Minister's Office so completely dropped the ball on this.