Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Mayrand, first I want to go back to something Mr. Martin had indicated. He was basically saying we've done something other parties haven't. And I just want to refer to an article written by Mr. Robin Sears. He's the former NDP campaign director. He wrote an article entitled “Elections Canada is the real scandal”, which ran in The Globe and Mail.
He said a number of things. For one, he said:
For 30 years, parties have transferred money to candidates. Then they take some of it from everyone to support central campaign costs. Look at any party's filings and the flows are recorded for all to see. Stéphane Dion's 2006 campaign filing shows money moving in and out on the same day. Various New Democrats' filings reveal that in their more centralist structure, more money flows up than down, but they too mix national and local spending freely.
He goes on to write:
...Elections Canada's very un-Canadian behaviour is unacceptable in a democracy. Without a better argument and evidence, Elections Canada will lose the legal battle, and then we will all pay the cost politically. The bad blood caused by its storm-trooper tactics has infected the political system. Many Liberals and New Democrats are horrified by all of this. They know it could be their turn next.
Are you concerned about how many Canadians are right now questioning the impartiality of Elections Canada? Does the reputation of Elections Canada in this concern you, and that an NDP campaign manager would write that? This isn't us saying that.
We have a point of order.