Madam Speaker, I am wondering if the member could provide his thoughts on someone who is an expert in dealing with the issue at hand, and that is Steven Chaplin, who is a former senior legal counsel in the office of the Law Clerk and the parliamentary counsel.
In a Hill Times article, he says, “It is time for the House of Commons to admit it was wrong, and to move on. There has now been three weeks”, and now it would be much more than that, “of debate on a questionable matter of privilege based on”, and I really want the member to listen to this part, “the misuse of the House’ power to order producing documents.”
There is no doubt we have unfettered power. It does not mean we should be using it in all situations. We should be listening to what the Auditor General of Canada is saying. We should be listening to what the RCMP is saying to parliamentarians. We should not be listening to the self-serving leader of the Conservative Party who is dictating to Conservative members as to what they have to say inside the House in order to be in the good books and get the gold star from the Conservative caucus.
When will members recognize that what they are actually doing is in borderline contempt of Parliament?