Hon. Leo Housakos: Government leader, the government’s answer to my colleagues Senator Plett’s and Senator Boisvenu’s question regarding the competence of Minister Mendicino is shameful. Government leader, this is the truth of the matter: The problem isn’t that Minister Mendicino didn’t announce that Paul Bernardo was being transferred — the problem is that he played dumb once it was made public, and he acted like it was the first time he had ever heard about it. That’s the problem with Minister Mendicino.

It seems to be the default setting of Prime Minister Trudeau and Minister Mendicino to play dumb every time they get called out — just as the minister was called out many weeks ago regarding his statement that all illegal police stations in Canada had been shut down, and then a few days later, we find out there are a couple of police stations still operating in our own hometown. The minister played dumb again, and, worse than that, he blamed the RCMP.

My question is very simple, government leader: Is Minister Mendicino playing dumb, or is it possible that he’s genuinely this incompetent?