Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I would like to congratulate my colleague, Mr. Angus, for introducing this motion. I think the motion is a very important one, especially in this context. In fact, some senators behaved so inappropriately that the Senate suspended them.
As parliamentarians, our duty is to approve Senate expenses, in this case $60,000 to conduct an investigation into compliance with the Conflict of Interest Code for Senators. As an MP, I would feel more comfortable approving that amount if I was allowed to ask questions of the people involved. In fact, since there are some real ethics issues in the Senate these days, I want to know if the money will really be used to report back to Canadians and Quebeckers.
My constituents and I want to know whether this $60,000 will really lead to concrete change in people's behaviour and in how things are done in the Senate. The current situation is simply scandalous. Of course, we would eventually like the Senate to be abolished. In the meantime, the Senate exists, but we want to ensure that this investigation, at an expense of $60,000, will serve a purpose, increase transparency and ensure that senators, who are appointed in a non-democratic way, are accountable for that amount.
I am fully in favour of inviting the Treasury Board President and Senate Ethics Officer to appear before December 5, 2013, so that the committee can approve that amount. We need to know what we are approving and that it will serve a purpose. I hope all my committee colleagues will agree and say that this measure is essential for transparency and for taking a step forward. This involves ensuring that the Senate, which I would say is currently a rather dysfunctional institution, will become functional between now and the time the NDP is the government and abolishes that institution.