Leader, two years ago, before the Trudeau government used a made-up rapporteur to cover up what it knew about Beijing’s interference in our elections, it was busy hiding the truth about a security breach at the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg.

First, the Prime Minister said that asking questions about this was racist. Then his government defied four House orders to produce uncensored documents. Next, he sued the Speaker of the House to keep the documents hidden. Now the Trudeau government has hired three former judges to oversee the work of an ad hoc group of four MPs viewing the documents.

Leader, a parliamentary committee should be doing this work. No respect for Parliament, no leadership, no common sense, no transparency and no accountability — why is it always the same story with the Trudeau government, leader?

Thank you for your question. The attempts to use the combined force of the opposition parties in the Senate to make sensitive intelligence material public is irresponsible, and in that regard, the position of the Government of Canada has always been to work with the opposition parties in the hope that they would agree to a responsible process for the review of such documents such that parliamentarians can do their work without endangering not only the national security of Canada but the safety and security of those intelligence officers in the field that work on our behalf.

Well, of course, I said “uncensored documents,” leader.

Leader, in a Question Period almost two years ago, I asked you for basic information about the firing of two scientists from the Winnipeg lab and the links between the lab and Beijing military scientists. I have yet to receive an answer, but that’s no surprise. If the Trudeau government is willing to defy orders from the House and take the Speaker to court to hide the truth, it obviously wouldn’t lift a finger to answer my questions.

The panel of three former judges I mentioned will ultimately decide what information is disclosed to MPs and the public. According to the memorandum of understanding, decisions of the judges are “final and unreviewable.”

Leader, why is the Trudeau government passing off its responsibility to others yet again? They are either too incompetent or too compromised to tell Canadians the truth about what happened at the Winnipeg lab.

Leader, either too incompetent or too compromised — which is it?

It is neither.

Six and a half years ago when I joined the Senate, it was in the hope that the Senate could return to its original conception as a place where serious issues and serious questions can be dealt with in a serious and less partisan way. Alas, that obviously is not a vision that is shared by all.

It is not a lack of competence. It is not a question of cover-up. It is a responsibility of the government to make sure that issues that affect national security are dealt with in a responsible —

It is the responsibility of any responsible government to deal with these matters in a responsible way. In that regard, I continue to insist on the distinction between the importance of the issues that are raised in this chamber and the way in which they are raised and the liberty with which the questioners too often play with facts and assumptions.