House of Commons photoLost his last election, in 2019, with 34% of the vote.
Public Safety March 27th, 2018
Mr. Speaker, let me make it abundantly clear that we have the utmost respect and trust for Daniel Jean. He has served governments in this country with distinction and honour for over 35 years, and there is no question about his integrity or his dedication to Canada.
The hon. member seems to be bewildered, and I think the problem is that she does not have the facts. We are offering to give her leader the entire classified briefing so that she can have the facts and end her stunning bewilderment.
Public Safety March 27th, 2018
Mr. Speaker, in case the opposition missed it, the media have already reported all of that information very extensively, and there was no classified information included.
I would point out, as senior Conservative bloggers have done in the last short while, that the key issue is the broader and classified context around the Atwal matter. We have offered the Leader of the Opposition that full classified briefing, but so far, he has declined. The essential question is why the Conservative opposition is choosing to remain deliberately ignorant.
Public Safety March 27th, 2018
Mr. Speaker, I know of no classified information revealed by the national security adviser, but to fully inform the Leader of the Opposition about the full context of the Atwal situation, we have offered him a classified briefing with all the essential details. So far he has declined to receive that information, and that amounts to wilful ignorance and irresponsibility. The Conservatives are risking putting themselves as pawns of other interests.
Public Safety March 27th, 2018
Mr. Speaker, what has been offered to the Leader of the Opposition is a complete briefing, including classified information that would put this entire situation in full context. The Leader of the Opposition is so far declining that offer, but he needs that full context in order to be totally informed. If he would prefer not to be totally informed, then one can only assume that he wants to play politics with this information.
Public Safety March 27th, 2018
Mr. Speaker, we all have the utmost respect and trust for Daniel Jean. He has served governments of all political stripes with honour and distinction for 35 years. For Stephen Harper, he was the deputy minister of foreign affairs. He spoke for the former prime minister at the United Nations. In all of his roles, Daniel Jean has always protected Canada's vital interests, including the proper management of classified information.
Public Safety March 27th, 2018
Mr. Speaker, the first step in any process is for the Leader of the Opposition to fully inform himself of the facts. That opportunity is available to him. He has, so far, turned it down.
To fully inform the Leader of the Opposition of the full context of the Atwal situation, we have offered the Leader of the Opposition that classified briefing. He has turned it down so far. That amounts to wilful ignorance and irresponsibility. The Conservatives are setting themselves up to be pawns of other interests.
Public Safety March 27th, 2018
What I am defending, Mr. Speaker, is the entire and complete description of the facts. What the opposition is declining, or refusing to do, is to accept a full briefing that would provide to the Leader of the Opposition all the facts and all the context so that he can make a full, informed judgment of what transpired. If he declines to be fully informed, if he prefers to operate on bits and tidbits of partial information, one has to be pretty suspicious of the motive.
Public Safety March 27th, 2018
Mr. Speaker, what the Leader of the Opposition needs to have is all the facts. All the facts have been offered to the Leader of the Opposition. His response thus far is that he would rather have partial facts, incomplete facts, or inaccurate facts. If he wants the full story, he can have it. If he declines to get the full story, one can only conclude that he has a partisan reason for turning it down.
Public Safety March 27th, 2018
Mr. Speaker, the point clearly is this. Why would the Leader of the Opposition decline to get the full story and prefer to operate on bits and snippets of misinformation, or disinformation, or incomplete information? The government has made the offer to the Leader of the Opposition to be fully informed of all of the context around this situation so that he can, in fact, function in an appropriate leadership role. He has declined, and the only conceivable reason is that he wants to play a political game.
Public Safety March 27th, 2018
Mr. Speaker, the media have already reported everything extensively, and there was no classified information. As senior Conservative bloggers have pointed out, the key issue is the broader and classified context around the Atwal matter. We have offered the Leader of the Opposition a full classified briefing, but so far, he has declined, so the essential question is, why is he choosing to remain deliberately uninformed and misinformed?