Mr. Chair, for a political party that extolled, as a matter of fact characterized, its party as one of accountability and transparency, you would think it would welcome this. Yet it has filibustered all week and not allowed us to go forward with this very important study.
I ask the Conservatives to allow a vote on the main motion. What are they afraid of? Mr. Chair, what do they have to hide?
Individuals have been named, and I will just name a couple in the spirit of expediency because I know my Bloc and NDP colleagues, as well as perhaps other Liberals, would like to have a chance to speak.
There are statements by Jean Landry, who ran for the Conservatives in Richmond—Arthabaska, who reported to the Ottawa Citizen that, “Directors of the Conservative party called me to tell me not to talk to Elections Canada again because there were others dealing with the problem”.
Perhaps you'd like to hear from Mr. Gary Caldwell, who ran for the Conservative Party in Compton—Stanstead, who reported, and I quote, in the Ottawa Citizen, “The federal party wanted to put through some of their expenses through the accounts of candidates who weren't spending up to their maximum”.
Mr. Chair, these are serious allegations. It is the appropriate mandate of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs to deal with this. I would ask our Conservative colleagues to quit filibustering and allow us to get on with this very important issue. Thank you.