Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his question. The answer is obvious. Of course, we would like to introduce every possible amendment to give more teeth to Bill C-43, which has lost quite a few since it was introduced. We want this bill to be stronger, and every bit of information regarding lobbyists should be disclosed, including their donations to political parties and their political affiliation. All the information should be provided to ensure greater transparency. I justify this disclosure requirement simply because when lobbyists are subject to no controls, no restrictions, obviously this leads to all sorts of abuses.
It is sure, for instance, that if we cannot have an independent ethics counsellor, a counsellor appointed by the House rather than by the Prime Minister, this really puts the value of this bill and the lobbying on Parliament Hill into question. It proves that the general public is right to be seriously concerned about lobbying. Again, the worst of it all is that it affects us personally as politicians because it casts doubt on us. Introducing a bill like Bill C-43 regarding lobbyists brings our political integrity into question because, as politicians, we know that there is corruption and abuse of power in those circles. The fact is that we are in a position to act and pass a bill that would have teeth, but we are not taking advantage of this possibility.
This brings us into disrepute. The public is perfectly justified in questioning the integrity of politicians because, no matter what people say about politicians, I know that there are certain things that we cannot do, like perform miracles. But in this House we have the possibility and power to make a good bill out of a bill like this one. We could make sure that the ethics counsellor is appointed by the House of Commons, thereby ensuring greater transparency in a matter of great concern to the general public.