Mr. Speaker, lobbying really became part of the decision-making process in the early 1980s. In Canada, lobbyists have mostly influenced the public service and the government. Prior to that date, Canada had no legislation concerning the registration of lobbyists, and the public interest went unprotected.
In 1986, the Standing Committee on Elections, Privileges and Procedure was set up to review the lobbying issue. Some of the witnesses before the committee argued that Parliament had no reason to study this matter. They thought the duty to disclose information would interfere with the right to privacy.
Under the Conservative government, a bill stating the guiding principles behind a lobbyists registration system was drafted. It was based on Bill C-82, known today as the Lobbyists Registration Act, hereinafter called Bill C-44, which was approved on September 13, 1988, and came into force on September 30, 1989. This Act was amended by Bill C-76 passed on February 22, 1993.
The definition of a true lobbyist varies in every country. However, the fundamental principle is always the same, transparency. The public must be kept informed in order for democracy to develop. In Australia, lobbyists are cursorily defined. The word means any individual or corporation that receives benefits, financial or otherwise, from a client during negotiations with ministers or representatives of the Commonwealth government. In Canada, lobbyists are defined as corporations or individuals who will, for a fee or any other benefit, make representations for a client to ministers or public servants.
Before addressing the issue of this outrageous Pearson deal, I want to briefly review the events that surrounded the expropriation process in Mirabel, in the province of Quebec. This gorgeous area is in my riding of Argenteuil-Papineau.
On March 27, 1969, the federal government officially announced its intent to build a new Montreal International Airport, subsequently known as the Mirabel Airport. That airport was to be built in the village of Ste-Scholastique. Sixteen years later, on March 27, 1985, the bells of the Ste-Scholastique church rang to tell the people that an agreement had been signed between the Mirabel people whose land had been expropriated and the Canadian government. Under this agreement, farmers and homeowners were given back a large part of the land they had been unfairly stripped of. Some 80,000 acres out of the 97,000 acres that had been expropriated were retroceded. I was among the citizens who were unfairly stripped of their property.
His Eminence Charles Valois, bishop of St-Jerôme, stated in 1988: "The inhabitants of 11 small towns affected by the Mirabel expropriation order also went into exile. Many left under unfair and short-sighted pressure; others became strangers on the very land their forefathers had cleared. Those who expropriated their land thought they would take it lying down. They underestimated how deeply attached these men and women were to their land".
Their ancestral houses and farm buildings were unscrupulously burnt to the ground, sometimes under their very own eyes, before they were relocated in an urban area. Some of these farmers suddenly found themselves without work or a future.
That decision taken under the government of Pierre Elliott Trudeau reminds us of the role then played by the lobbyists. Farmers did not get rich nor happy following the expropriation. Only sponsors and friends of the government really benefited from this expropriation as is the case in the Pearson deal, which is now before the House.
At that time, the Conseil régional de développement des Laurentides chose to direct long-distance flights to Mirabel and short-distance ones to Dorval. They maintained they had adopted this position to promote the economic interest of the Greater Montreal area rather than individual local interests.
Moreover, the Sommet socio-économique des Laurentides, held around the same time, had already favoured Mirabel as the main Montreal Airport, arguing that this would allow Mirabel to fully play its role as an international airport and to have the necessary interconnections on the domestic and transborder networks.
If Mirabel Airport was one of the worst planning mistakes of the Trudeau administration, we will not correct it by making another mistake.
The entire region of the Lower Laurentians benefits from the economic impact of the airport. Closing down Mirabel Airport to help Dorval would slow the economic development of the Lachute and Mirabel area where unemployment rate is already high. One of the options to stimulate the development of Mirabel would be the completion of highways 13 and 50 but it seems that the two levels of government do not yet see the need for it.
Today, the Montreal airports authority, also called the ADM, is launching a development strategy including reorganized public and shopping space on the mezzanine floor, preventive maintenance of the facilities, enhanced access and a review of the mode of operation. Indeed, large billboards on the airport grounds announce works totalling some $150 million. It is clear Mirabel airport was not the result of an open process nor was the Pearson airport transaction.
The idea of openness brings me to the financing of political parties. In this respect, I would like to remind you of the motion presented in this House by my colleague from Richelieu on March 18, which called for the imposition of an annual maximum of $5,000 on political donations by individuals. That motion reminds us of who we really work for. It is the people who elected us. The member said in his speech: "Some may believe that present measures are sufficient to limit undue influence and that it is in no way necessary to cap donations. Yet,
during the last ten years, charges of influence-peddling made against Senate and House members tend to prove the contrary."
The voters have to regain control of our electoral system. Quebec's legislation on this matter should serve as a model in every respect. The sources and amounts of contributions have to be disclosed. Moreover, the recommendation of a code of ethics for elected and other officials is essential if we want transparency.
There were many players in the scandalous Pearson Airport transaction and I need not name them again since they all made the headlines. As a matter of fact, the person appointed by Prime Minister Chrétien to examine this issue, Robert Nixon, recommended that the contract be cancelled.
In light of all the troubling facts surrounding the Pearson deal, we must ask the Prime Minister to appoint a royal commission of inquiry to look into the activities of these lobbyists.