Mr. Speaker, I heard the hon. member for Wellington-Grey-Dufferin-Simcoe talk about possible cuts to the funds given to what he calls interest groups. However, his list of organizations contained a large number of what I would call community groups, which the hon. member urged to put greater reliance on fundraising. I feel that he is very sincere and that is why I will ask the following question. At the
very end of his speech, he addressed the issue of political party financing.
As you know, political parties in Quebec are currently financed only through individual donations, although in Canada, any corporation, union or group has the right to contribute to the financing of federal political parties. They make fairly large contributions. However, we in the Bloc Quebecois have decided not to rely on donations from corporations, businesses and special interest groups, because of Quebec's Bill 2 respecting political party financing as it was then called.
To follow his reasoning, would the hon. member agree at some point to a review of the legislation regarding political party financing in Canada in order to restrict such financing to individuals?
You also know that, at the federal level for example, unlike the situation in Quebec-I am not as familiar with the situation elsewhere-even individuals are allowed to claim tax credits of 75 per cent, which means that the federal government gives $3 for every dollar given by an individual to a political party. Does the hon. member think we could start with political party financing in order to set an example? We should at least restrict financing to individuals rather than to community interest groups which, hit by government funding cuts, also have to deal with reduced social services, leading to an increase in the number of clients.
I would like the hon. member to comment on the advisability of a law restricting political party financing to individuals in order to avoid the abuses that may exist at this time.