Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Had we had the preamble and reasoning for launching another investigation, explaining how the scope of this investigation varies from the others and how it complements them, and had it come without the typical soapbox-style blaming of the government around transparency and all of those partisan things, it would have been a much better start. Once again, had we had this motion prepared and sent to us, and had we had an opportunity to be able to talk about it a little bit better....
Given that the scope of this investigation now seems clearly different, worthy and complementary to the others, I'd like to say that we fully support the idea of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner investigating this matter. Probably it would be a good idea for the committee, through the chair, to send a letter to the PSIC asking whether they're investigating, and if they are, if there is a timeline on that.
I will not dignify the comments that my other colleague Mr. Brock has made about our government not being transparent or accountable, dating back to the platform in 2015 when the Prime Minister talked about an open government. What Mr. Brock forgot is that we also said that we will hold a high level of integrity. This is where we are trying to find that balance between integrity and openness, etc. I strongly suggest that we come off the soapbox, start focusing on getting to the bottom of this and stop the rhetoric.
Thank you, sir.