Senator Plett: That truly is a shameful answer. Every guest has to be vetted by protocol and security.

Leader, power and responsibility go together. If the Prime Minister wants to have the power, he must also take on the responsibility. If he wants to travel all over the world and meet other heads of state, he is responsible, leader, for Canada’s reputation.

Last week, he presided over Canada’s greatest diplomatic blunder. He should have apologized two days ago, leader, when this came to light; he didn’t. Today, he finally came out from under the rock where he has been hiding for the last two days, and he said that Parliament apologizes — he did not say, “I apologize.” Parliament apologizes, not him.

Senator Gold, when will the Prime Minister finally grow up, accept his responsibility for once and apologize — not on behalf of only Canada and Parliament, but on behalf of himself?

Senator Batters: Senator Gold, it is not credible that the Trudeau government did not vet the guest list, even solely for security purposes. With President Zelenskyy, we had in our midst perhaps the most threatened target in the world right now — the leader of a country under attack by one of the globe’s most bloodthirsty despots. The Trudeau government’s house leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Karina Gould, confirmed Monday that “When it comes to everyone who is invited to Parliament, of course that vetting happened. . . .”

The Parliamentary Protective Service reports to the RCMP, which answers to Prime Minister Trudeau’s Minister of Public Safety. The Trudeau government has RCMP and CSIS intelligence to protect visiting delegations and all parliamentarians. Since, as Minister Gould admitted, the Trudeau government vetted this guest list, how did a Nazi come within mere feet of the Jewish leader of a besieged Ukraine? If the Trudeau government actually failed to vet attendees, how can they defend their stunning negligence that has sacrificed not only Canada’s international reputation but also the security of the entire Ukrainian nation?