Mr. Speaker, I listened carefully to the remarks of the hon. member, and I think he did a very good job of pointing out the problems with this bill, and more particularly the fact that it does not go far enough. Members of the official opposition have been receptive to representations and comments made by the public during committee hearings. I was one of those who attended most of the hearings of the committee on lobbying. What struck me the most is that people want more openness in the public sector. They do not trust politicians any more. They said it quite bluntly: We do not trust politicians. We have the definite feeling that all the decisions made on Parliament Hill-or at any other level of government, but let us deal with our own House first-are made to serve the personal interests of politicians. That is what people told us. It is quite clear and easy to understand.
I think Bill C-43 was an opportunity for us, as politicians, to demonstrate our commitment to openness. We had an opportunity to pass a bill on lobbyists that would clearly show that we are not here to advance our own interests or those of the government's buddies. That was the very praiseworthy goal of Bill C-43, but the government did not take the necessary steps to reach that goal.
With Bill C-43, we had a chance to really shed some light on what goes on on Parliament Hill, but we let it slip by. One thing we could have done to promote openness and show Canadians how serious we are on this issue would have been for the House to have a say in the appointment of the ethics counsellor, and for the bill to stipulate that our code of conduct was binding, just like the one lawyers have. I am a lawyer myself and, when I used to practice law, our corporation had an official whose job it was to slap us on the wrist if we misbehaved. I think we should have taken this opportunity to develop a binding code of conduct to ensure some kind of supervision.
Instead, we will end up with a non binding code of conduct written by an ethics counsellor appointed by the Prime Minister, in other words, with a document that is just so many empty words.
The hon. member mentioned some issues and current events. My question is: Does he agree that, if we had had an ethics counsellor appointed by the House, accountable to the House, with the statutory instruments needed to enforce the law and ensure openness, would the goal set out in Bill C-43 have been reached and better defined? Could the hon. member provide an answer to my question?