Mr. Speaker, I believe the group of motions we are currently considering is the most important, because it focusses on the essence of the problem and of the goal of transparency. The amendments, the motions presented by the opposition relate directly to this.
This is why I am extremely happy to see all the Liberal members and ministers listening very attentively to what I have to say. Let them take notes and they will realize that the objective of the motions put forward by the Bloc Quebecois, Motions Nos. 22, 28 and 29, is indeed in line with the purpose of Bill C-43 with respect to transparency.
I believe that, if we are really to convince Canadians and Quebecers that Bill C-43 does indeed increase transparency and is not some dubious undertaking, it will be with the help of Motions Nos. 22, 28 and 29.
Motion No. 22 concerns the appointment of the ethics counsellor. I do not want to go over this whole issue, but I think and I believe everyone across from me will agree that the elected representatives are the people who sit here. If someone is to report to somebody or account for something to somebody, anywhere in the entire system, it is to the duly elected representatives.
But they still have to be able to choose this person-the ethics counsellor. Bill C-43 gives a lot of power to the ethics counsellor. Some witnesses even told us that the ethics counsellor should be someone extremely powerful. Powerful for whom or for what, if we, the elected representatives have no say in the choice or in the appointment of this individual and, more importantly, if he or she is not required to report to the House and is not accountable to the elected representatives?
We are now being told that his job is to watch over parliamentarians' chastity. I would like to have a say on the kind of work to be done by this ethics counsellor. I would like to have a say on his appointment and his reports to the House.
As it now stands-and I think that most critics will agree on this-, Bill C-43 has no teeth. One of the reasons why this bill does not achieve the objectives set in terms of transparency is that the ethics counsellor will have to report only to the Prime Minister.
I see hon. members opposite shaking their heads in disagreement and indicating to me that Bill C-43 still provides for some safeguards. The ethics counsellor will release his findings. That is not enough. Not only do we have no say in his appointment, but the ethics counsellor will only justify his findings. That is the purpose of Bloc Quebecois Motions Nos. 28 and 29, which provide that the ethics counsellor must conduct his investigations publicly.
We must keep in mind that the ethics counsellor will act in matters involving public money. I would not say anything if the ethics counsellor could look at contracts involving two private individuals or companies. I do not need to know the circumstances, how much they paid for a given piece of land, or why the contract was signed. However, when one of the parties is the government, when one of the parties spends taxpayers' money and makes laws or regulations that will have an indirect impact on the population as a whole, I think it is a different matter.
When I sat on the committee, people told me that, even though I am a lawyer, I asked for things that even the Bar Association could not ask for. I reminded these people that, whenever the Quebec Bar Association investigates a lawyer, it is no longer a public but a private matter.
The ethics counsellor is responsible for reviewing an issue like the Pearson Airport deal, which everyone in this House is familiar with. This is not a matter between two private parties. The ethics counsellor will have to look go over the telephone calls, the letters, the contacts, the meetings. We could have had information. The people could have received information they do not have at this time.
I think that the Canadian people have a right to know what is being done with their tax money. We are paying enough taxes. I think we should know what our money is being used for. The only way to get to the bottom of this whole matter of lobbying would be through public inquiries. This way we would know which ministers and members of Parliament were involved and who contacted a particular civil servant. We need to know. It is not enough to go by findings on which the ethics councillor will base his conclusions.
Let me give you a very simple example. If the only part of court judgments to be released were the conclusions, whether at the Superior Court, the Quebec Court or another court, few people would be able to find grounds for an appeal. Basically, disagreement would be expressed regarding the conclusions. But why did the judge come to these conclusions? How does one know what the judge's decision is based on? To appeal a
decision, one needs to know who testified in the case, what they said, what evidence was introduced, what the charges were and so on. And where is all this information found? In the judgment.
Why the judgment? Because most of the time, perhaps 99.9 per cent of the time, trials are public. While private parties are involved, 99.9 per cent of trials are public and we get to know on what basis the judge made his decision.
This is plainly a public matter involving public funds, and the government, which claims to be transparent and which came up with Bill C-43 to show its hands were clean and it was fulfilling an election promise, introduced a bill whereby we will have no say in the selection of the ethics councillor and, moreover, we will never know a thing about his activities.
That is what this government is about, a Liberal government that cannot even manage to fulfil the simplest of promises made in its red book concerning transparency and lobbyists, when it had promised to implement to the letter the recommendations of the Holtmann report on greater transparency. I can see that what we are saying here is painful to them because it is the truth. This government is good at hiding problems without ever solving them. It is hiding something. Bill C-43 is further evidence of this.
You will understand therefore why these motions are so important and why the government is reacting this way to my comments. The fact is that we have put our finger on the real problem and the problem is over there.