Mr. Speaker, the member says: "It has nothing to do with ethics. He is qualified". These folk only have to know the individual I defeated to find out if he is qualified. They should have had a good look at him. The difficulty with them is that they do not know what ethics are. How can an ethnics counsellor report to the Prime Minister when they have no idea what ethics are?
Suffice it to say one of the most important issues for Canadians today is ethics. Another important issue for Canadians is integrity. Politicians across the country suffer in the eyes of Canadians because they do not believe they have integrity.
There is an easy way to try to help the situation. The counsellor should be appointed by the whole House of Commons, not just that group. I question the ethics of some of its members and will continue to do so.
It is not good enough to legislate integrity. We have to believe in it. Will the government look at the amendments on the table and vote for them in favour of objectivity, in favour of integrity and in favour of informing the people of Canada in the proper way? Or, will it be business as usual from a traditional party and in some cases a traditional party that has already proven it has questionable activities, particularly the ones I mentioned before.