Madam Speaker, I love how the member twists the words. I did not say “normal procurement” or “this is normal procurement”. What I said was “procurement is normal”, and there is a big difference. Procurement happens. It is a part of what we do, how government operates, and at times it can be in the best interest to procure services. We accept and believe in that.
As I indicated in my speech, we also have a directive on the conflict of interest and values, and a code of conduct for the public sector. To the member's point, if people are abusing their positions or are doing things they should not be doing in contravention to those two documents, then they should be held accountable. I do not think we would find anybody in this room who would suggest otherwise. It is really important that people are held to the highest standards we set out in those documents, but the reality is that sometimes people are not. When that happens, they have to be dealt with. I believe that is the case, to the member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan and his question earlier.
Yes, individuals have to be held accountable. Let us get on with it by sending this over to PROC, having PROC get to the bottom of the documents issue and sending it back to the House. That is how we function. However, Conservatives are not interested in that. They want to delay and obstruct so they can claim this place does not work so they can justify an election.