The roots of this odd struggle can be traced to a motion passed by the House before MPs went on their summer break.

With opposition MPs voting in favour and Liberal MPs voting against, the House adopted a Conservative motion on June 10 that ordered the government to turn over documents related to Sustainable Development Technology Canada, the federal agency that was shut down in June after the auditor general raised serious concerns about its management.

Such production orders are not unheard of, but in this case the Conservatives went a step further. According to the motion, the documents were to be provided to the House’s law clerk, who would then turn them over to the RCMP.

(RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme stated) “It is therefore highly unlikely that any information obtained by the RCMP under the Motion where privacy interests exist could be used to support a criminal prosecution or further a criminal investigation.”

“The House order solely required the law clerk and parliamentary counsel to transmit the documents,” Scheer told the House in September. “It has not obliged the RCMP to open the envelope or insert the USB key into a computer.”

But if that’s the case, what exactly is the point of this current fight?