Mr. Speaker, that attempt by the Conservative member to be humorous is somewhat sad, because at the end of the day, as more and more Canadians find out who the leader of the Conservative Party really is, I think they will become disenchanted and disappointed because of the unethical behaviour that we have witnessed on numerous occasions. The type of misinformation that is espoused raises legitimate concerns. Then, for the member across the way to try to make a joke of a very serious issue when we have the independence of the RCMP and call into question a tactic that is being used here, I find it sad, even though the member sits in his corner and laughs.
At the end of the day, we have a government that has been working on the issue to ensure that there is a high sense of accountability and there is, in fact, going to be accountability on the issue. However, what I find interesting is that the strategy now of the Conservative Party is to say “ignore what the RCMP concerns are and ignore the Auditor General” who affirms the RCMP, another independent institution. The Conservatives say “just ignore what they are saying”; and move full steam ahead.
It was interesting. The New Democratic speaker before me talked about the Afghan scandal with Stephen Harper. I remember that scandal. It is interesting that the leader of the Conservative Party of today was there during that scandal. A number of the Conservatives who are sitting across from me were there during that scandal when Stephen Harper refused to provide unredacted documents.
Speech after speech, we hear the Conservative Party members, not necessarily talking about the process or the procedure that should be followed, which is the motion, but rather talking about character assassination and listing off what they believe to be scandals. I have said this before and I have read about it. I have no problem at all comparing our actions as a government to the types of decisions that were being made under Stephen Harper. I wish that we would actually see some of the Conservatives who were there during the Harper regime stand up and provide their defence on the issue and why they have had some sort of come-to-Jesus moment in terms of a complete road-to-Damascus reversal of their positioning.
Now, the Conservatives feel that, as parliamentarians, we have a supreme right, and that is where I do agree,. We have a supreme privilege that enables us to do things that other Canadians cannot do. Where I disagree is this: Just because we have that ability does not mean that we should be using that ability. I have heard Conservative members talk about how Centre Block had a jail in the basement and how we have had individuals walk away from the gold bar and just drive away, implying they should have been put in jail. What a slippery slope it is when we feel that we can just instruct the RCMP and ignore what it is telling us, and then another member says we should have the right to put someone directly into jail. The Conservatives like to think that they are there to protect the individuals of our society regarding rights and freedoms.
I will stay away from some of the other issues that many of my colleagues have raised. Conservatives even think about issues like the notwithstanding clause and how it is no problem to use it. Why? It is because Parliament can. What a terrible attitude to have.
SDTC is an arm's-length organization, meaning that there is no political interference and it makes the decisions. There is a responsibility for us to ensure that there is accountability, and we have been doing that. That is the reason, as I say, there have been internal investigations. That is the reason it went to the standing committee.
There are silly comments in the speeches coming from the other side and they try to justify them because they happen to be here on the floor of the House of Commons. There are assertions of people being Liberal-friendly and that there is all this corruption. That is what Conservatives say. If, at the end of the day, they want to talk about pure corruption, as they often do, let me touch on a few of them.
There were the Conservative anti-terrorism scandal, the Conservative Phoenix scandal, the Conservative G8 spending scandal and the Conservative ETS scandal. Interestingly enough, the ETS scandal was a $400-million scandal that involved a minister. Members should google it and find out. Maybe then the Conservatives will look in a mirror and react to their own behaviour. There was the Conservative F-35 scandal, the Conservative Senate scandal and the Conservative election scandals, more than one. We will remember the robocalls and one of the Conservative MPs walking out in leg cuffs. They should not talk to us about scandals. They should look in a mirror.
This is an issue the government has been on top of. This is an issue that should be going to the PROC committee. At the end of the day, the government would be doing a disservice to the RCMP, the Auditor General and Canadians by just giving in to the Conservatives' bullying and what they feel they are entitled to. I would suggest that this needs to come to an end and be given over to PROC so we can start dealing with issues that Canadians are dealing with.
We have had the introduction of bills like the Citizenship Act, the military court legislation, the rail and marine safety legislation and the online harms bill. Legislation was introduced earlier this morning. There is a lot on the agenda. Canadians want us working for them, not working for the Conservative Party's interests. I am asking members opposite to put Canadians ahead of their own political party. There is still a full year to go. Let us maximize that and get things done for Canadians.