Mr. Speaker, as the critic for the official opposition on the matter of lobbyists, I am pleased to rise very briefly today, following the tabling of the report of the majority, to inform Parliament that I have tabled, with the majority report, a dissenting opinion on this bill.
With all we have heard regarding the management of the affairs of government, I feel the profession of influence peddlar, as it is called in the business, must be regulated. Legislation was needed to re-establish a relationship of trust between the government and the people.
I thought that, with the campaign commitments the Liberals made in the last election, transparency would be the watchword within Parliament thanks to this bill. I also thought that the new parliamentary procedure, which was supposed to permit in-depth debates and improve the role of members of Parliament, would enable me to amend Bill C-43 in keeping with taxpayers' interests. I was fooled, like many others. The procedure failed to live up to promise as did the wording of Bill C-43, and this is why I submitted a dissenting opinion, which is appended to the report. I wanted to let people know of the two major failings of this bill.