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 galler

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

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 Hou

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 hi

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 tod

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

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 c

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, becau

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 ev

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 t

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 w

Guests in the House of Commons  Mr. Speaker, I have tremendous respect for my colleague opposite. He was the Speaker, and he is the House leader now. He knows how this chamber operates. He knows that the Speaker has prerogative for whom they invite to the Speaker's gallery. The Parliamentary Protective Service

Guests in the House of Commons  Mr. Speaker, let me continue to lay out the facts for this chamber. It is a fact that the individual was not granted access to either the President of Ukraine or the Prime Minister of this country. He was specifically invited by the Speaker of the House, who did not make either

Guests in the House of Commons  Mr. Speaker, I will repeat for my hon. colleague what I have already said because it is a matter of fact and the truth. Neither the government nor the Ukrainian delegation knew in advance that this individual was invited or that the Speaker of the House would draw attention to hi

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