Mr. Speaker, in closing, I pointed out that Bill C-43 reassured no one. I said that the Liberals should have a "best before" label, a bit like dairy products. They were better before they came to power, better before the elections, better before they lined up at the trough. The fine principles they defended in opposition have evaporated.
I could explain at length the many shortcomings of Bill C-43. My colleague for Berthier-Montcalm has already done so amply. As we are short of time, I will raise two flagrant examples of this change taking place in the Liberal family.
First, the appointment of the ethics counsellor. With great pomp, as usual, the Liberals across from us announced the appointment of an ethics counsellor to advise ministers and government officials and to examine the need to amend the legislation.
These fine principles will not go far, however, if this counsellor is not given some independence from the Prime Minister and his government. Do not forget that the Prime Minister appoints the ethics counsellor, consults him when he sees fit and allows him to make public statements only when they are to his political advantage.
A true ethics counsellor would be accountable to the representatives of the people. All of the counsellor's decisions should be made public. He should have the power to launch investigations and have enforcement powers. Bill C-43 does none of the above. It merely gives the illusion that someone is ensuring that decisions are made ethically, while in reality, the role amounts to nothing.
We are giving the Prime Minister the right to appoint an ethics counsellor, to consult the latter when he feels like it and to keep the counsellor's advice secret unless he decides otherwise. They will have to think of something else if they want to restore the trust of Canadians and Quebecers in our institutions!
Scandals like the attempted privatization of the Pearson airport hit home the need for a bill on the registration of lobbyists. I will not describe in detail all of the underhanded tricks and schemes that came into play in this tainted deal. What is really important is that we remember it as a sad incident in which the government's reputation was tarnished in the eyes of the public.
As it stands, Bill C-43 could not have prevented this kind of scandal, no more than it could shed more light on the suspicious comings and goings of the current Minister of Canadian Heritage. The ethics counsellor does not have the power to set up an investigating committee to get to the bottom of it for Quebecers and Canadians.
The second shortfall of Bill C-43 on which I would like to comment concerns the categorization of lobbyists. The Bloc Quebecois wants to eliminate distinctions between different types of lobbyists. When the Liberals were in the opposition, when they were "best before", they took exactly the same view as the Bloc Quebecois: lobbyists are lobbyists and should be accountable for their actions. Since then, the Liberals reversed their position, probably under pressure from lobbyist friends and contributors to the party coffers.
And speaking of party coffers, when I look at the latest figures on funds raised by political parties in Canada, I can understand why the Liberals are so anxious to change their position on lobbyists. In 1993, the Liberal Party of Canada raised more than
$20 million in political contributions which was, needless to say, the largest amount ever collected by the Liberal Party of Canada during an election year. Last year, in 1994, the Liberals raised $9 million, the largest amount ever collected by the Liberals outside an election year. This year, the Liberals have set their fundraising objective at $10 million.
During the election campaign, the Liberals claimed, and this is again from the red book: "No one should be required to pay fees in order merely to arrange meetings with ministers or senior officials". However, just to give a few recent examples, last Wednesday in Montreal, the Prime Minister met 1,800 people who had each donated $400 to the Liberal Party.
Last month, the Minister of Finance invited members of the business community to a private reception at $1,500 a head, to talk about his budget, and so forth. Are we to understand that the Liberal government's message is: For access to decision makers, instead of investing in lobbies, contribute to the party coffers of the Liberal Party of Canada for a better return on your investment. It seems to be the message an increasing number of Canadians and Quebecers are hearing.
Bill C-43 does nothing to remove this impression. The Bloc Quebecois tried to give this bill some teeth by proposing at least 60 amendments. The Liberals were adamant and rejected all proposals that would have made this a bill with teeth. The obvious conclusion is that for Quebecers, their only hope for more democratic and more transparent institutions lies in sovereignty. Through its bill on political party financing, Quebec has made an important contribution to the resolution of this important ethical matter.