Mr. Speaker, clearly, I will not have enough time to refute some of the objections raised during the debate on this motion.
According to my research, I could prove that there are much fewer flaws in this proposal than in the present system. This, I hope, will be the subject of another debate, at some other time.
I would have liked my colleagues in the House to realize that this is not a "revolutionary" idea, contrary to what one of my colleagues from the Bloc quebecois said. I believe it to be plain common sense.
It is indeed an idea I have been promoting for many years, including in the National Assembly, when I had the honour of serving my fellow citizens at the provincial level. I raised the issue of funding for political parties in 1974. This is not something I became interested in last week.
I have seen the trend and the many scandals surrounding funding for political parties.
The idea I am presenting today is very simple. I am asking for a debate, not only among members of this House, who can settle the issue, but also in the public at large.
You know, I did just that. I asked several people: "Do you believe that the current way of funding political parties is democratic and fair or that there is favouritism or that there are slush funds?" Most people would say: "Do you think I am a nitwit? We do not believe that the system is fair and equitable. Far from it."
If you ask ten people, at least nine will tell you that the system is rotten to the core. So, the time has come to examine the way political parties are funded. It is not necessary to adopt the exact system that I am proposing. A University of New Brunswick professor who did his doctorate on the subject studied this. I consulted him and exchanged information with him. His studies demonstrated that the most democratic way is to let the public at large fund political parties.
That is not complicated; perhaps it is even too simple. This is too often what happens when something is too simple: it is difficult to get it accepted.
In concluding, this is a beginning. We must hope that other groups that are interested in our society will realize that the funding of political parties is fundamental in a democracy, and we cannot allow big multinationals or people with a lot of money to be the most important backers of political parties. This is paramount in our democracy.
Let us hope then that this is a beginning, because the data that I have can easily demonstrate that this would be the most equitable system, one which would not cost more to the state, not a cent more than it is costing today.