Mr. Speaker, I rise today to take part in this very important debate on Motion No. 304. This is a motion which I believe everyone in the House should support. What better way to show Canadians that we got the message the people sent a little more than a year ago?
If we can ever say that when Canadians go to the polls they speak with one voice, it was in the results of the 1993 election. The electorate wanted fundamental changes to the way politics are conducted in this country. Canadians took great pains to ensure that a message was sent throughout the political world.
If politicians ever thought they were above the people or in some cases above the law, that election proved to be a great leveller. Now that we are here, it is important we do not breach the trust which was placed in us.
Parliament is subject to the charter of rights and freedoms. How can Parliament and the crown agencies establishes and is a shareholder in not be subject to the Access to Information Act? A committee in the last Parliament studying the Access to Information Act likened it to the charter as one of the fundamental tenets of our society. Therefore it seems to me that if we are bound by one we should be bound by the other.
I know the Access to Information Act is used by opposition MPs and the press to dig up as much dirt as they can in order to embarrass the government during question period. The concern on the government side must be that if the access net is cast even further, that it will simply involve more work being put into question period presentations. The potential for embarrassment will simply be enlarged. That could happen.
Is the answer not simply to ensure there is no potential for embarrassing matters to be brought to light under the access procedure by assuring that crown corporations are run in a sound and efficient manner? The answer is not to limit the application of the Access to Information Act but to ensure MPs and crown corporations act in a responsible manner with taxpayers'dollars.
We are here to exercise a trust. That trust has been placed in us by the people of Canada. We are to be good stewards of the taxpayers' dollars. The money collected by Revenue Canada is not our money to do with as we please; it belongs to the people of Canada. If we keep this in mind every time we do something on this hill or in our constituency offices, then we have nothing to fear from the Access to Information Act. We have everything to gain.
Suppose that tomorrow we all became subject to the act, then weeks go by without any stories in the press about mismanagement of public moneys or about trips being taken which could not be justified. Think about how that would raise the opinion of the electorate in this group it elected in 1993.
Surely the same reasoning applies to crown corporations. With them not subject to the act, there is a perception that something is going on behind closed doors. All of us have been here long enough now to have participated in in camera meetings of committees. The perception is that once the doors are closed and the sound recording is turned off, real and momentous decisions are made which affect the life of this country.
Those of us who have participated in those in camera meetings know that nothing is further from the truth. However, the perception is that we should open up the process; open up the process for both parliamentarians and crown corporations. Between us and the crown corporations billions of dollars of taxpayers' money are spent, presumably for the good of the country. If this is the case, then the public has a right to know. If it is not the case, then surely letting the public know becomes a first step along the road to cleaning up waste and mismanagement.
The rule of law is the foundation upon which our system of government is built. It was established hundreds of years ago in Great Britain during the reign of the Stuart kings that no one, not even the crown, is above the law. This is the cornerstone of the rule of law. We are all equal under the law and no one is above the law. We are equal in that the law applies to every one of us in the same way. Be we rich or poor, white or black, it applies equally.
Again, no one is above the law. No matter how high you have scaled the corporate ladder, no matter which political office you occupy either federally or municipally, when you look up, the law of the country is still above you.
If these beliefs are true, and we all know they are, then how can we work here knowing that a law which is designed to open certain parts of government to public scrutiny does not apply to us and to the crown corporations? I do not believe we can justify this situation. We must act to ensure that laws such as the Access to Information Act apply equally to all, including politicians.
This will send an important message back to the electorate. It will show that we have learned from the mistakes of the past. We have learned to listen to the people of Canada and act upon what we have heard.
We have a message and the message is loud and clear: We are to be frugal stewards with taxpayers' money. We are not to receive anything more in the way of benefits than the ordinary taxpayer. And we are not ever to assume that we are above the law.
Parliament must act and let the sun shine in. It must act in a positive way to tell Canadians it has nothing to hide. We have been good in this Parliament in this regard. We have opened up to scrutiny the meetings of the Board of Internal Economy which would have been unthinkable in years gone by. It is important that we send out the message that we are open to scrutiny ourselves. If we have nothing to hide then why put up barriers? If there is something to hide then we and the crown corporations are not acting in the best interest of the taxpayers. This deserves to be exposed.
I urge all members from all parties to support the motion. The end result will be a strong message sent to the government to amend the Access to Information Act. It will then be up to the government to show that it still stands behind the promise of openness it made in the last election.
I seem to remember the Liberals promised openness and fair play in that red book they keep talking about. They promised openness and fair play to the Canadian people. Passage today of motion 304 will help to do this.
We on this side of the House will be waiting and watching. The people of Canada will be waiting and watching. If the government does not act on this matter we can rest assured the people of Canada will act at the next election and elect a group that will let the sun shine in on Parliament and its workings.