They have provided absolutely no evidence to the contrary. We will continue to provide examples, Chair, that buttress our contention and our arguments that we acted in a similar fashion to members of the opposition, and if the members of the opposition were not found to be at fault, then clearly we cannot be either.
Chair, we've had many debates on this over the years, and I want to go back a number of years, because this is an issue that all parliamentarians have a direct interest in, obviously. We're all candidates at election time; we stop being members of Parliament and start becoming candidates. So there is clearly an interest of candidates in how election rules and guidelines are set and how they must be followed.
I'm going to refer to some quotes that have some local ties. They're from a former member of Parliament, who was actually an NDP member and who represented the riding I now represent. There's a further connection—not that it has any true relevance—in that I was very good friends with this member's daughter, as we went to high school together. Unfortunately, she died in a very tragic accident while parachuting, when her chute didn't open. She was a dear, dear friend of mine, so I can't think about this even today without some pretty strong feelings. Nonetheless, I use this example because of its relevance to my riding and given this member's seniority within Parliament.
Mr. Les Benjamin was a long-time member of this institution, and here's what he had to say in a debate, as taken from Hansard:
Some people, including one or two of my colleagues, have raised the matter of no limit on candidates in terms of the purchase of broadcast time. I am not too hung up on that one. I am not sure that there should be a limit. I think the state should intervene to the extent of limiting expenses and requiring disclosure of the sources of contribution. The state has a right to intervene because the public has the right to know, but
—and this is the important part, Chair, and I want to emphasize this—
how the candidate spends that money and on what he spends it surely should be his business and the business of his constituents and party organization. If he has a limit of $25,000 and the damn fool chooses to spend it all on television time, surely that is his business