That's true. It was mostly Mr. Lukiwski, who I am sure is very happy to have a bit of a rest.
There are Canadians who have many questions that have gone unanswered. This whole issue is before this committee because Elections Canada found some anomalies that they would not allow to be claimed by the Conservative Party in the election of 2006. It had to do with testimony that we read about in the paper by former Conservative candidates--some are sitting colleagues in the Conservative Party in the House of Commons--as well as official agents, who felt that they were coerced, forced, that pressure was brought to bear on them, to participate in a scheme that they themselves did not feel comfortable dealing with, but in some cases, it was reported, they felt they had no alternative. They were given ultimatums.
So because of this, I think it's something that's very important, that these particular Canadians, and indeed all Canadians, are able to have a fuller debate, and a more informed debate, on how this goes forward. It's a sad state of affairs when this in-and-out scheme that was reported in the media, as well as so many other things that this government has been involved with, comes to light only through media reports.
So I think that it is incumbent on this committee--as we know through the Standing Orders, it's this committee that is charged with dealing with issues surrounding elections, so it's certainly within the purview and the mandate of this committee to deal with these issues. It is only fair that Canadians be able to see the entire story, and not just these media reports. I would contend that, as we've seen in many other committees, the full story needs to come to light, and indeed will come to light, when we're able to proceed with this very important issue.
I'd also underscore the time lag that this committee has been forced to endure on this important issue, and point out that Ottawa is rampant with election talk. One of our real concerns is that Canadians have the full story and that we be able to move forward to a future election, not looking at anybody being compromised by anything that would be systematically dictated from the centre of...in this case it's the Conservative Party, but I would contend of any party. Elections Canada has singled out the Conservative Party alone, and no other party, as perpetrating what has been depicted--certainly in the media--as an in-and-out scheme.
It is very important that we get to that, so time is of the essence.