Mr. Speaker, I really appreciated how much the member focused on the importance of whistle-blowers in coming forward and calling out the government of the day when it is breaking laws. I absolutely agree. I find it very difficult when those whistle-blowers are attacked and discredited.
However, in 2012, a special adviser to the justice department, Edgar Schmidt, raised concerns that the department and the Conservative government were not upholding their obligation to notify Parliament regarding concerns they had about their bill at the time, the Fair Elections Act, saying it was unconstitutional. The member's leader, the member for Carleton, was trying to ram it through Parliament at the time.
Schmidt blew the whistle on the instructions he received from the government to cook the legal analysis and cover up for the blatant attacks on the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Schmidt was suspended without pay and barred from office for speaking out. I am eager to ask the hon. member whether he would stand up today to apologize to a public servant like Edgar Schmidt for being a whistle-blower and standing up for what is right, or will he just continue to stand in the hypocrisy that seems to be such a large part of the Conservative Party?