Mr. Speaker, I speak today on Bill C-22 because I believe in democracy, in the ideal that demands that governments legislate while taking into account the interests of the population and the common good. The decisions taken in this House allow us to reflect and promote the democratic values.
I am among those who believe it is still possible to send people to Parliament so that they can work hard to defend the interests of their fellow citizens. I believe that political representation is based on a confidence relationship between voters and elected representatives.
Democracy is also the process underlying all of our institutions. It is through them that all the great values of transparency, ethics, justice and fairness are conveyed. It is on them that rests the confidence relationship between a government and its citizens. When politicians break that special relationship, the society is faced with individualism, profiteering, cynicism and disillusionment to name but a few.
The Liberal government likes to repeat, in this House, its intentions to make sure that Canadians regain confidence in their political institutions through a better transparency. I do not believe that Bill C-22, as worded, could do it.
All the ploys and the jiggery-pokery surrounding the privatization of Pearson airport under the previous Conservative government are a sad example of incidents which diminish the people's respect and confidence vis-à-vis their government.
Allow me, Mr. Speaker, to remind the House of some elements of this deal we should now call the Pearson saga. The Canadian government announced its political intention to privatize Terminals 1 and 2 at Lester B. Pearson International Airport in March 1992. Less than three months after this announcement, the Request for Proposals process was over. They had received only two bids from Paxport and Claridge. Given the importance of this transaction, everybody agrees that the time limits were too short.
In December 1992, the Paxport proposal was accepted. Later on, Paxport was unable to respect the government's conditions concerning its financial viability. In February 1993, Paxport merged its activities with those of its competitor, Claridge; that merger put them in a monopoly situation which was contrary to the government's guidelines. But this is not the first incongruity in this deal nor is it the last. Be that as it may, a few months later, in the middle of the election campaign, on October 7, 1993, the government and the corporation resulting from the merger of Paxport and Claridge hurriedly signed a legal agreement for the privatization of Terminals 1 and 2 of Lester B. Pearson International Airport.
When returned to office, the Liberal government ordered an in camera review of the situation. That review was completed by Mr. Robert Nixon, a former Liberal minister at Queen's Park. The conclusion of the Nixon report is, and I quote:
My review has left me with but one conclusion. To leave in place an inadequate contract, arrived at with such a flawed process and under the shadow of possible political manipulation, is unacceptable.
On December 3, 1993, the Prime Minister announced the cancellation of the airport privatization contract and on April 13 last, the Minister of Transport presented Bill C-22 which reflects the government's will.
The secret maneuvering and shameless favouritism surrounding this deal hide a reality which is even less edifying. On the one hand the Liberal government claims to be asking for the cancellation of that contract in the public interest but, on the other, it does not worry about public interest when it gives discretionary powers to the cabinet allowing it to pay compensation according to its own judgment. This may well cancel out the positive effects the government says it wanted in the first place. As a matter of fact, the government is asking us today to sign a blank cheque to compensate the companies involved in this transaction. Quite a few political personalities and lobbyists, of Conservative and Liberal allegiance, are closely connected with this whole sorry affair.
In spite of the fact that the Liberal Party promised to get to the bottom of the Pearson saga and to introduce an in-depth reform to better control lobbyists'actions in the backrooms of Parliament, we are forced to notice that the same old manoeuvring is still taking place.
The people's cynicism for politicians is the fruit of misappropriations similar to the Pearson saga. Let us not forget that Quebec and Canadian taxpayers pay for lobbying expenses and political party contributions through corporate tax deductions. When patronage occurs, they pay again for the cost overruns of lucrative contracts, or the sale of public property to friends of the government at bargain prices. Taxpayers have every right to say enough is enough.
And yet, there are solutions such as those proposed by the Bloc Quebecois to put an end to this cover-up. They go from the public financing of political parties to a stricter control of lobbying activities and the adoption of a code of conduct for elected representatives and high officials. By amending Bill C-22 and by calling for a royal commission of inquiry, as requested by the Bloc Quebecois, the Liberal government could show that transparency is more than wishful thinking, more than an abstract idea.
Georges Burdeau said: "The overriding concern of a democracy is to ensure that the power that the people hold is not corrupted by the demands of the masses. What is important is to ensure that freedom is not subjugated by passions, by factional tyranny or by special interest groups".