No. Members across are not in a position to be sanctimonious. This is certainly not the right time for them to vow political chastity. Just think of what was happening recently between the local branch here and the head office in Quebec. One wonders which brand of separation will be preached. Is it the federalist one of the local branch manager in Ottawa, that is the Leader of the Opposition, or the separatist one in Quebec? Which one will prevail in the debate?
It now seems the member for Lac-Saint-Jean is slightly ahead of his provincial colleague. We will see, in the near as well as distant future. In any case, whichever brand of separation, it will still be separation. It is like ice cream. The flavour might be slightly different, it is still ice cream. In this case, however, the product has soured and the public will not buy it.
In conclusion, I will repeat that we have here an excellent bill which was introduced by a minister who really did his homework and which was studied by an extremely competent parliamentary committee. That committee, through its majority members, delivered what we promised in the red book and went even further on some points.
I support their work entirely. I am convinced that this is a good bill. As the Minister of Industry indicated, it is a legislation which has the strictest national requirements in the world. Yes I must repeat it. It is not my fault if such are the facts. Nonetheless, it is still the truth.
I welcome questions from my colleagues across the way on this bill. I welcome in advance their support if they do want stricter rules for lobbyists. We will find out in very short order whether that is really what they want or if all they want to do is complain and not really do anything.