Mr. Speaker, first of all, I would like to pay tribute the member for Lac-Saint-Louis. I really enjoy working with him. In fact, he chairs the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development, and twice a week we have a lot of fun working together. I would like to commend his contribution to public debate and what he has accomplished as a parliamentarian for a good 20 years, if I remember correctly.
As for the member's question, let me be clear with him. This is an order of the House. Is it setting a precedent? Yes, it is setting a precedent, but let us look at that precedent. It is hard to believe that, when three out of four parties think the same thing, there is a mistake. We do believe in moving forward. We are talking about a third party, but that is not a private company or someone who would profit from this. We are talking about the RCMP, which is run by serious people.
I want to remind my colleague that, yes, there was a time, unfortunately, when politics interfered with and intruded directly into the judicial process. It was not us or the House that did that. It was the Prime Minister himself, when he directly interfered in the SNC-Lavalin scandal.
The former justice minister, Jody Wilson-Raybould, had made her decision, and he called her into his office, not to the Liberal Party's office, but to the Prime Minister's Office. He told her that there was an election in Quebec and the Liberals had to win it. An assistant told her that the Liberals had to be re-elected.
Never before in history have we heard testimony with such serious consequences. We saw one person interfere directly in the judicial process. It was the Prime Minister. He should have immediately put a stop to it. He should have said that enough was enough, that they were in the office of the Prime Minister of Canada, not in the office of the leader of the Liberal Party, and he should have kicked them out, but no, he added insult to injury by saying unabashedly:
“We need to get re-elected.” Shame on the Prime Minister.