At a meeting of the House of Commons’ international trade committee earlier this month, Leon Benoit, the Conservative chairman, ordered me to stop my presentation as an invited witness. My remarks, he ruled, were not relevant. When his decision was successfully challenged by other members of the committee, Mr. Benoit adjourned the meeting and left the room. I was astonished.

The following is a presentation on the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP), a 2005 accord by the U.S., Canada and Mexico to streamline economic and security rules across the continent, which Gordon Laxer attempted to make to the Commons Standing Committee on International Trade in Ottawa on May 10. When Laxer began to speak, committee chair Tory MP Leon Benoit, ordered Laxer to stop, saying his testimony was not relevant. Benoit abruptly adjourned the meeting and three Tory MPs on the committee stormed out of the room.