Mr. Speaker, first let me say that the thrust of my comments was not to single out bureaucrats and hardworking members of our public service. I believe that we have an excellent public service, hardworking federal employees who work tirelessly day in and day out.
What I was trying to suggest is that something about the government since 1993 has created a climate and belief, whether it is coming from the political or the bureaucratic side, that it is okay for people to treat the federal budget as their own personal piggy bank.
I am trying to suggest that this has political roots. I am trying to remind members of the House that it was the Prime Minister himself who said that it is impossible to believe that the sponsorship scandal happened without political direction. Whether we are talking about individuals specifically involved in some less than ethical behaviour or whether we are talking about a cultural phenomenon, the problem is the same. Something happened.
There is a pattern. The Virginia Fontaine scandal started almost immediately in 1993. Something happened in the sponsorship file in terms of Public Works and Government Services. That whole episode happened almost immediately in 1993. Something happened when the Liberals took office that allowed the environment to be created and the possibilities for corruption to occur.
Maybe it has to do with cronyism. Maybe it has to do with the revolving door between the Prime Minister's Office and Earnscliffe. Maybe it has to do with the fact that there is a revolving door between cabinet and high ranking positions in the bureaucracy and huge corporate entities. Maybe it has to do with the coziness between those two worlds. Maybe someone has lost sight of our purpose here in terms of the public good. That is my major point.
With respect to the specific question about the testimony of Chuck Guité based on his appearance before the public accounts committee two years ago, that is precisely the kind of manipulation and manoeuvring that we have seen from Liberals around this scandal that causes people to be so cynical about the process.
The committee's time was used to debate a motion because the Liberals wanted--I do not know what they wanted to do exactly--to redirect blame to the opposition, to refocus attention away from the mess they had made. It had no bearing on anything. It had no bearing that we had to see Chuck Guité's testimony from two years ago. We knew that Chuck Guité had to appear before our committee. We knew that testimony would become available with his appearance. It became less than relevant to the whole episode actually at that moment to have Chuck Guité's testimony from two years ago. That was just a game the Liberals were playing. It was a distraction.
I would like the member to consider what we can do as a Parliament to address this broad cultural problem. The Liberals have helped to contribute to the creation of an environment that is the antithesis of honesty, integrity, transparency and accountability. I want to hear suggestions from that side about how we get at that deep rooted, very serious issue. We have to come to grips with it if we are ever going to restore people's faith in this place and in democracy.