I think all of us have received representations and even e-mails—when I got into the office early today, further e-mails—from people who will be affected by this clause.
I think it's important to keep in mind, as we look at this clause, that this is the fulfilment of a commitment. This is introducing the spirit that was spoken to when the government made the commitment that they would end influence peddling, that they would put an end to the revolving door that so angered Canadians in the previous government.
Notwithstanding even the particular details of the woman in question, who perhaps is the most high-profile person affected by this, you have to bear in mind the tasks of the transition team. They aren't simply ordering furniture for the new government. They aren't only organizing office space. They're hiring the most powerful people in the country.
I can just imagine, one month after these new deputy ministers and chiefs of staff are put in place, the same individual showing up on their doorstep saying, “Hi, do you remember me? I'm the one who interviewed you and gave you your job. Now there is something you can do for me. I'm working in the private sector as a lobbyist.”
The optics of that are so obvious, it's as plain as the nose on your face. Whether it was for two weeks or two months, those people on the transition team must have known it put them in the top level of political influence, the upper sphere, if you will. That's exactly the type of influence that shouldn't be marketed. Your connections shouldn't be a marketable commodity.
That's what has been so wrong in Ottawa. I don't say it's terribly wrong, to the extent of some other countries. I think the United States' democracy has been ruined by the undue influence of lobbyists on Capitol Hill. We're not at that degree, but we were heading in that direction and it can be nipped in the bud by a clause like this.
I don't know what the sense of the committee is in support of this bill, or how much more I have to argue in favour of it, but it's a strong motion for its symbolism and the message that it sends, as well as the practical effect of the language that's been very carefully chosen, I might add.