Mr. Speaker, in response to the hon. member's point about any advertising agencies of any political stripe that have been named in the Gomery commission, I do not support any type of corruption at any time.
The Conservative Party of Canada is a different party. It stands on its own merits today and will vehemently oppose any kind of program that does not have proper oversight and that would in any way lead to any type of expenditure and waste of taxpayers' money.
As I said before, it is important to note some of the positive things the Conservative Party of Canada has been speaking about and pushing for, which I hope the government would take into consideration. Conservatives would like to see the government strengthen internal audit and comptroller functions of the government, so that program delivery actually matches the intent of the program, which is exactly how this particular program failed in the beginning.
This would also allow us to measure spending against objectives and ensure that any cost overruns would be immediately brought to Parliament. Perhaps, if that had been done in the past, this never would have resulted in the dire consequences we are facing now.
As Conservatives, we have also said we want to ensure the comptroller general operates in an independent office and reports directly to Parliament. This would ensure that the highest standards and practices of expenditure management are enforced in all federal departments, as well as in crown corporations, agencies and foundations. I suggest to my hon. colleague that this is something I am sure he would like to see his own government do as well.