Mr. Speaker, I listened with a great deal of interest to what the hon. member for Burin-St. George's had to say. Nevertheless, I want him to know that when I decided to go into politics at the federal level, I faced even more resistance from members of my immediate family, especially my eldest son, when he came home with a copy of the Journal de Montréal that contained certain polling results.
People were asked to rate various professions according to the degree of confidence they had in these professions. Unfortunately for me and for all here present, we ranked 27 out of 28, just ahead of used-car dealers. So my son told me: "Dad, if you go into politics, if you are ever elected, I am afraid you will become a-", and I will let you fill in the word my 22-year old son used.
If I am not mistaken, the hon. member for Burin-St. George's voted against the motion moved by the hon. member for Richelieu-if I am wrong, I am sure he will say so-since the major problem for politicians is money. Remember what happened to Pearson airport in Toronto. The Bloc Quebecois forced a major debate on the issue in this House, and it is not over yet. The matter is still before the Senate.
So wherever money is concerned, people often tend to cheat. The Bloc Quebecois, through the hon. member for Richelieu, presented a motion in the House proposing that, like the system in the Quebec legislature, party fundraising would be a very democratic process, in which only individual voters would be able to donate funds to political parties. So "Power steering" Seagram and the banks would not be able to donate a single penny to political parties. And making fun of this very common sense approach suggested by the hon. member for Richelieu, a Liberal backbencher moved that no voter be allowed to donate more than one dollar, and government members voted in favour of that.
When the hon. member for Burin-St. George's said parliamentary immunity should be maintained and that his constituents voted for him because of his qualifications-he had some faults but they were negligible-he never mentioned the need for above-board fundraising. I think it is nice to visit our constituents and ask them for financial support so that we can continue our work. And then when they put a hand on our shoulder and say: "Chrétien, you are doing a good job, keep up the good work and here is $25", that is encouraging. I would rather get $25 from one of my constituents than $25,000 from the Royal Bank of Canada, which would make me totally dependent on the bank.
In this House I am a free man, and when I feel like criticizing, I go right ahead and do it.
So I would ask the hon. member for Burin-St. George's what he would suggest in the way of no strings attached fundraising to his colleagues in caucus. You know, when a party is in power, it may develop some very good ideas, as the Parti Quebecois did, but often they are put on the backburner.