Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Official Opposition has tabled an amendment to have a royal commission of inquiry instead of adopting the bill before the House today. I have said before in this House that there was a taint of manoeuvring around the contracts, of which there are a quite a few, which were concluded when Terminals 1 and 2 were privatized. This taint could only be removed by a commission of inquiry that would investigate this matter. My colleagues have said so repeatedly, but apparently that has fallen on deaf ears, not yours, Mr. Speaker but those of our colleagues opposite.
It should be clear to them since the Liberals are involved through the people who contribute to the party's coffers, that if compensation payments are not made in full public view, the suspicion will linger that money changed hands under the table. There will always be some suspicion that ties between the traditional parties and governments and the contributors to party coffers remain intact and that this is a case of you scratch my back and I scratch yours. People will wonder: How much will the government secretly agree to pay to a certain investor and why? How much, to whom and why? These questions should be considered, or at least the answers to those questions should be given publicly, and the underlying reasons should also be made known.
Why will the government not let a third party evaluate this deal, a third party with an obligation to answer to the citizens of Canada? Otherwise, consider the opportunities for collusion among individuals who are in a position to benefit from such deals, at the expense of taxpayers in Quebec and Canada? Of course this may not happen, but people will never be sure.
My colleagues have said that not only must justice be done, it must be seen to be done. In this case, we will never be sure there was no collusion.
Who does the government want to protect and why? That is the question. Why does not the government want to know all the facts? Is the strong taint around these transactions not convincing enough? Does the government think that by cleaning up mess, it may be contaminated in the process? How much is this going to cost taxpayers? Can we accept the risk that several hundred or several thousand or even several million dollars will be misspent?
In this connection, I feel I must recall what was said in the course of another debate we had in this House, which will be resumed after the committee has done its work, and I am referring to the cuts in the unemployment insurance program. When an unemployment insurance applicant signs his form and makes a mistake, be it of a week, a day or an hour, not only can the government claim back the money paid in excess, but it can also brand the person a cheater. Even if the Act were not amended, that is what would happen. The government which wants a free hand to give compensation it calls just to investors, some of whom, as we know, contribute to the party's coffers, that same government introduced Bill C-17 which seeks to increase the number of weeks necessary to qualify for unemployment insurance.
That same government wants to limit the number of weeks of entitlement and in that case we are not talking about thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars, we are talking of a few dollars that the workers really need. Yet, in many cases, these workers are going to be deprived of sums of money very important to them. Of course, the sums involved would not be a suitable compensation for an investor, but to unemployed workers they would help pay the rent and feed the family.
I wish to stress that too often there are two categories of people in this country. The ordinary citizens who have a hard time earning a living, because jobs are scarce, and must respect the law to a tee or be faced with costly penalties. And there are the others, who belong to an ill-defined circle, but can easily take advantage of the gravy train.
At a time when it is so hard for ordinary citizens to make ends meet, when jobs are hard to get, when it is very difficult to raise children and give them an education, we cannot in any way let the government apply a double standard and compensate investors, who certainly spent time and energy, but have probably been compensated already. We cannot let the government yield to undue pressure. Justice is not enough, there must also be appearance of justice.
I should say that Torontonians and Canadians who rely on Pearson Airport should be glad to be spared this deal. The contract provisions which were brought to light in the Nixon report-it was not a royal commission but it makes you want one-reveal that Toronto's economic development would bear little resemblance to the projections based on 30 years and even on 57 years. Without a doubt Torontonians have had a narrow escape.
I can say that because in Quebec, the Liberal Government of the time ordered the construction of a new airport based on projections that said it would lead to the area's prosperity. In fact, it was all the contrary for Montreal. So Torontonians are lucky, but the price to pay must not be too expensive for ordinary Canadians. Even if they are investors who contribute generously to political parties, that does not mean we should give them special consideration. The government, in particular, should not be allowed to do so.