Mr. Speaker, I was not going to repeat what I said at the beginning, in my introductory remarks on Motion No. 1, when I took a few minutes to explain why the Bloc Quebecois had taken the stand it took at the committee stage of this bill and describe the general attitude of the hon. members who sat on this committee. But in the light of the comments made by the hon. member for
Fundy-Royal, who also chaired the sub-committee on this bill, I will focus on the causes for my disappointment, since he is here to hear what I have to say, as will the minister opposite.
I repeat, I am disappointed with this new consultation process. The main reason for referring the bill to committee before second reading was to allow members to play a more prominent role and promote dialogue between the government and opposition parties to enhance the contribution of members to the development of legislation. The idea was to give opposition members the chance to express their views on the bill now before us.
Look at the changes to Bill C-43 as a result of this process and watch what will happen, at the end of the day, to the proposals made by opposition parties this afternoon. You will see that nothing changes. It comes to the same thing. So much so that when the minister appeared before the committee as our first witness, he told us that we had a free hand, that we were the best lobbyists there was to have the act amended, but he also gave us directions. While all his directions made it to Bill C-43, amendment proposals made at committee stage by the opposition, and the official opposition in particular, including twenty or so of my own fostering greater transparency, were all rejected. That is why I want to tone down this whole thing. I think we could revert to the old process, since this one is not much different anyway and comes to the same thing.
Regarding Motion No. 19, I must tell the sponsor of this amendment straight off that I agree in principle with his amendment. I think that Motion No. 19 serves the purpose of fostering greater transparency. This is a commendable goal and we, Bloc members, will work toward and support this goal. However, what stands in the way of this motion being adopted is much more a technical consideration. Let me explain.
Motion No. 19 seeks to amend section 8 of the existing legislation, the Lobbyists Registration Act. That act is in Chapter L-12.4 of the Revised Statutes of Canada. Section 8, which is under the heading "Registry of lobbyists", reads as follows: "The Registrar General of Canada may designate any person employed in the office of the Registrar General of Canada as the registrar for the purposes of this Act". Therefore, the section 8 currently in effect deals with the designation of the registrar. What does the registrar do? His role is to keep the registry of lobbyists. This is what the existing act provides. Based on its wording, section 8 designates the registrar.
Motion No. 19 reads as follows: "8. The Governor in Council may designate any person as the registrar for the purposes of this Act." The motion therefore refers to the Registrar General of Canada. The amended section in Motion No. 19 designates the Registrar General of Canada. But who will designate the registrar? As I said earlier, the underlying principle is good. Things would be clearer if the Governor in Council were the one designating the Registrar General of Canada.
This would ensure greater transparency. However, the amendment proposed by the member does not specify who will designate the registrar. Yet, this is extremely important, since the registrar is the one who maintains the registry of lobbyists. I believe the amendment proposed in Motion No. 19 is incomplete and thus we cannot support it, since it would create a vacuum regarding the implementation of the Lobbyists Registration Act.
There is a legal principle which says that the legislator does not intervene uselessly. The legislator does not make a law for no reason. This is even more true in this case, where the legislator is represented by all of us here. Parliament does not make legislation to poke holes in its implementation. I sincerely believe that, if we support Motion No. 19, we will poke a hole in the legislation regarding who will designate the registrars. If we are going to create problems by amending the current legislation, we should stick with the existing section 8 of the Lobbyists Registration Act.
As I said, the official opposition, the Bloc Quebecois, will oppose this motion, not because of its underlying principle, which we support and which has to do with ensuring greater fairness and transparency, but because it creates a vacuum in the bill. Consequently, we will vote against Motion No. 19.