Guests in the House of Commons  Mr. Speaker, as a Canadian of Jewish origin, I am extremely hurt by what happened last Friday. My grandfather is a survivor of Auschwitz. This is so very painful for me, and I know that it is also very painful for all members of the House. However, the facts are the facts. It was the Speaker of the House of Commons who invited this individual and decided to recognize his presence in the House.

Guests in the House of Commons  Mr. Speaker, as I have already stated, the Parliamentary Protective Service followed all screening protocols to ensure the security of last Friday's event. I agree with the member opposite in that it was profoundly embarrassing for Parliament and for Canada that this individual was both invited and recognized.

Guests in the House of Commons  Mr. Speaker, as I have stated, I think the episode on Friday was one of profound embarrassment for parliamentarians and for all Canadians. As has been stated clearly, the Parliamentary Protective Service did all of the required security protocols to ensure the security of the event.

Guests in the House of Commons  Mr. Speaker, as a descendant of a Jewish Holocaust survivor, this is something that is profoundly disturbing and upsetting to me, as it is to everyone in Canada whose family has been impacted by the Holocaust and, indeed, to everyone around the world. It is not lost on me that the President of Ukraine is Jewish and has also suffered the same way my family did, but I will reiterate to the member opposite that this was not the government's decision, and it had no prior knowledge of this.

Guests in the House of Commons  Mr. Speaker, the member opposite knows, because she heard it from you this morning and from me several times today, that it was not the Prime Minister who either invited this individual or recognized him. She acknowledged that he was recognized during the Speaker's remarks, because the facts of the matter are that this individual was invited by the Speaker of the House and was recognized by the Speaker of the House, who did this without informing either the Government of Canada or the Ukrainian delegation.

Guests in the House of Commons  Mr. Speaker, I have clearly laid the facts on the table several times today. In fact, the only person who invited this individual and decided to recognize him was the Speaker of the House. The Parliamentary Protective Service followed all security protocols to ensure the security of the event.

Guests in the House of Commons  Mr. Speaker, in fact, the Speaker has already clarified and expressed that this was his decision alone, that he did not inform the government or the Ukrainian delegation, that this was entirely his decision. I cannot force Conservative members to believe what the facts are. I can only put them on the table as they are.

Guests in the House of Commons  Mr. Speaker, the truth is that neither the Prime Minister nor anyone in his cabinet or in the Ukrainian delegation knew in advance that this individual was invited or that he would be recognized by the Speaker of the House of Commons. As I said many times, the Speaker of the House of Commons invited this individual of his own accord and he made the decision himself to recognize him.

Guests in the House of Commons  Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague knows, because he listened to you this morning and he saw your message yesterday, that you clarified that it was your personal initiative and that you had not notified the government that you were inviting this individual and drawing attention to his presence.

Guests in the House of Commons  Mr. Speaker, I can only share the facts and the truth. The truth and the facts are that, no, the government did not know that this individual was invited, nor that he was going to be recognized by the Speaker of the House. As the member opposite heard the Speaker say earlier today, this individual was from his riding.

Guests in the House of Commons  Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague heard your statement this morning. He knows very well that this was your decision, and your decision alone, to invite this individual and to recognize him in the gallery, without informing the government, without informing the Ukrainian delegation.

Guests in the House of Commons  Mr. Speaker, again, that hon. colleague would have seen the your statement yesterday and heard your apology in the House today. The Speaker confirmed that this was his decision, and his decision alone, to invite this individual from his riding and to acknowledge him in the gallery.

Guests in the House of Commons  Mr. Speaker, again, I would invite my colleagues on the Conservative benches to rely on the facts. You have laid out both in a statement as well as in an apology to the House that it was you who decided to invite this individual. You decided to recognize him in this place without informing the government, the Ukrainian delegation or, indeed, any parliamentarian.

Rick O'Brien  Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I would like to ask for unanimous consent to adopt the following motion. I move that, notwithstanding any standing order, special order or usual practice of the House, the recognition made by the Speaker of the House of an individual present in the galleries during the joint address to Parliament by His Excellency Volodymyr Zelenskyy be struck from the appendix of the House of Commons Debates of Thursday, September 21, 2023, and from any House multimedia recording.

Guests in the House of Commons  Mr. Speaker, first, I think it is important to point out that the Speaker of the House of Commons is independent. All members of the House vote for him. As I said yesterday, I want to thank the Speaker of the House for taking responsibility for his actions. As he said today, a few minutes ago, this was his decision.