Mr. Speaker, it is interesting to hear these interruptions, because obviously my words have touched a nerve on that side. It is very clear that the NDP-Liberal coalition is really worried about where this scandal is taking it and the government.
What was the Prime Minister's response? There was a request that came from the House of Commons that the government deliver to the House of Commons, to parliamentarians, all the documents having to do with this green slush fund scandal, a Liberal scandal. The Speaker specifically directed the government to deliver those documents. Of course, what the Prime Minister did not want to do was deliver any of those documents, so he did what his government has done so regularly. He engaged in something called “redaction”. That is just a fancy word for censoring documents. They took all those documents and they blacked them out, pages and pages of just black. There is nothing, no information of value, to glean from those documents. The Prime Minister then delivered those documents. The Speaker had expressly instructed that those documents be delivered in unredacted form.
What did the Prime Minister do? He thumbed his nose at the Speaker, at the Speaker's chair. The Speaker understands. He is the highest authority in Parliament. There is no appeal from his decision. When he orders the government to deliver documents, there is no appeal from that decision and it must be complied with. The Prime Minister thumbed his nose at parliamentarians and at the law. He thumbed his nose at Canadians. That is why we are in the House and why the business of the House has ground to a halt.
It has nothing to do with obstruction. It has to do with our intent to get to the bottom of this rottenness that has infected the Liberal government. The Prime Minister has presided over the most corrupt government in Canadian history. In fact, one of my colleagues on the Conservative side recently cited statistics that showed that one-third of all major scandals in Canada's complete history, from 1867 until now, had taken place under the Liberal government. It is unbelievable that this should happen in today's day and age.