Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I extend my apologies to the member opposite. He has really engaged me in his speech today, which I hope is gratifying for both of us. In his previous answer, the member said that he believes that people need to be “protected” and that the Prime Minister is weighing whether he can lift solicitor-client privilege.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I would think that if the member actually took the time to talk to his constituents, he would realize they have concerns. It is interesting that the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice now wants to talk about deferred prosecution agreements. If that is the case, why did the justice committee not study them?

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I served on justice committee in the last Parliament and learned quite a bit about how our system fits in, so I was quite interested in what the member had to say. I am also fascinated that he chose the Shawcross principle and conveyed it also with the sub judice aspect, simply because he is arguing that there needs to be a strong differentiation to ensure that people have equality under the law.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, obviously people recall things. We had Michael Wernick, the Clerk of the Privy Council, the other day. We have had many people call for the former attorney general to come and be able to speak her truth. Given the large role that the Prime Minister's Office has played in this affair, it is absolutely right that we should ask the Prime Minister to come to committee so he can also share this.

Justice  Madam Speaker, subsection 139(2) of the Criminal Code says, “Every one who wilfully attempts in any manner...to obstruct, pervert or defeat the course of justice is guilty of an indictable offence”. We now know that the Prime Minister arranged for the Clerk of the Privy Council and his principal secretary to get the former attorney general to interfere in the criminal prosecution of SNC-Lavalin.

National Defence Act  Madam Speaker, I am going to bounce off what the member for Guelph just asked. When I sat on the finance committee, we actually saw changes to the pensions for life program come through the omnibus bill. It went to the finance committee. We had a very limited number of witnesses to question about this issue.

Justice  Mr. Speaker, it is now very clear that the Prime Minister cannot be trusted. We know now that he met with the former attorney general after the independent prosecutor decided to proceed with the trial. We also know that the former attorney general told the Prime Minister and his office that she would not intervene.

Canada–Madagascar Tax Convention Implementation Act, 2018  Mr. Speaker, first, the member said the current Liberal government and its caucus are working for everyday Canadians. Media reports show that the Liberals' caucus meeting yesterday was consumed not by the wish to work for everyday Canadians but to protect the Liberal Party. The cabinet meeting on Tuesday was all about the issue surrounding the former attorney general and the Prime Minister's role and the staff of the Prime Minister's Office in regard to potential interference in an independent prosecutor case.

Canada–Madagascar Tax Convention Implementation Act, 2018  Mr. Speaker, I certainly appreciate the member's work on the finance committee. In fact, he and I could probably find some agreement that there are certain things that should be done as independent bills. Regarding the case that was raised on the deferred prosecution agreements that went to the finance committee rather than the justice committee, I hope we would agree that is definitely not the proper case and we should not have a blind sign-off, as the current Liberal government expected parliamentarians to do.

Canada–Madagascar Tax Convention Implementation Act, 2018  Mr. Speaker, it is always an honour to rise in this place to speak on behalf of the good people of Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, as well as to bring forward some of my concerns. Obviously these tax treaties have existed for a long time. In fact, two of the tax treaties I looked at earlier were dated back before I was born in the late 1970s.

Rural Digital Infrastructure  Madam Speaker, I would like to speak to Motion No. 208, put forward by the member for Pontiac. I certainly am pleased to stand up not just for my constituents of Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola but to talk about an issue that is very near and dear to many people in rural and remote areas throughout this great country.

Rural Digital Infrastructure  Madam Speaker, there are two things I listened to with keen interest. At one point in the member's speech, he raised the Telecommunications Act and said there needed to be some amendments to the act. In the motion, the member has not actually listed the Telecommunications Act as to what component of it needs to be amended.

Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act  Mr. Speaker, most people would join me in saying just let me go, but I certainly appreciate the member of Parliament's question. There are a number of Canadian firms that are developing next-stage technology. There is a huge number in digital health where there may be some extra collaborations.

Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act  Mr. Speaker, it is always helpful to hear various views in this place and again, I heard a number of times in this debate that Canada is a small and open economy and needs to be out there winning. I would hope all parties would say that when Canadians get out there and compete, we can succeed.

Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act  Mr. Speaker, I thank the Conservative member for continuing to talk about the importance of free trade for the country and for the whole world. The use of trade builds bridges. It also creates economic growth, so that we can start to work on societies and make them stronger. I want to thank the member for the nice question and again ask this place to continue to work on it within our own country in terms of internal trade.