Mr. Speaker, not on one or two occasions, but on three occasions, the Ethics Commissioner has cleared the minister the member is referring to.
Let me go to the bigger picture she is talking about with what we have been seeing over the last 12 or 13 sitting days. We have an opposition party that is so outside of reality that it is only focused on its leader and what is in the best interests of the Conservative Party, not what is in the best interests of Canadians. That is what we have witnessed over the last 13 days.
The member says we should just provide the documents. What she is really saying is that we should believe the Conservative-Reform party, not listen to what the RCMP is saying and do what Conservatives say. The leader of the Conservative Party continues to put his thumb up to the RCMP, the Auditor General, the former law clerk and others in a total lack of respect to what we are supposed to be doing in the House. It is an abuse of power that we are seeing from the Conservative leader. I say that without reservation because that is the truth, whether the member wants to hear it or not.
When the member talks about what is taking place now, in essence she is saying what the Liberal Party should not be listening to. I have a letter from the chief commissioner of the RCMP, which says, “There is significant risk that the Motion could be interpreted as a circumvention of normal investigative processes and Charter protections.” The letter is indicating that he does not support the tactic the Conservative Party of Canada is using.
That is not the only thing that the Conservatives are putting their thumbs up to. I have an article from iPolitics. This is a reflection on the so-called leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada today. The article reads:
Wesley Wark, who has advised both Liberal and Conservative governments on national security issues, said the Tory leader is knowingly misleading the public by claiming he doesn’t need the clearance because his chief of staff has received briefings.
“[The leader]'s idea that it’s sufficient for his chief of staff to be briefed for him and for his chief of staff to share that information with him is complete nonsense,” Wark told iPolitics.
The leader of the Conservative Party has absolutely no respect for this institution, let alone other institutions, whether it is the RCMP or the Office of the Auditor General. He has not only demonstrated that in the last number of months, but also demonstrated that when he was the parliamentary secretary to former prime minister Stephen Harper, who was held in contempt of the House of Commons, the first and only prime minister who has been held in contempt of Parliament.
The Conservative Party has a lot to learn about the actions it has taken. Its sole focus has been on the Conservative Party and its leader as opposed to what is in the best interests of Canadians. Instead of debating substantive legislation or talking about serious issues in Canada, Conservatives want to filibuster their own motion and prevent it from ultimately passing. It is something that we want to see go to PROC.