Mr. Speaker, it seems to me that the hon. member opposite spent much time defending the accounting profession. I do not think that what is at issue here, basically, is the profession per se. Part of the problem but not all of it rests with accounting.
The big question has more to do with figuring out why, two years into its mandate, the government has decided all of a sudden to set up a committee of experts to review the Canadian tax system. What is rather despicable about this approach is the fact that this committee is being formed after the Canadian government has already cut $7 billion in transfers to the provinces, taken billions of dollars away from UI recipients and drawn $5 billion on the UI surplus.
All of a sudden, out of the blue, it occurred to the government that perhaps it should have a committee of experts examine taxation, after all the chopping in social programs has been done.
I do not think that what is mainly at issue is the ethics of accountants. I think that accountants are totally within the law; however, and this is an important difference, something legal is not automatically ethical. When the legislation is unjust, inequitable and unfair to all citizens and that accountants operate within this legislation, while not being illegal, what they do may not be very ethical either.
I think, however, that we must agree that accountants are specialized in advising their clients on tax avoidance. How can we put any trust in these people to advise the government in reforming the Canadian tax system? I think that any involvement on their part in a process that the government might have wished to be perfectly serious and credible would defeat the purpose. That is why I contend that this cannot be a serious process, since some experts will be both judge and judged.
I would say that the hon. member for Joliette made this point very clearly today.