Madam Speaker, I am somewhat disappointed with the remarks made by the hon. member for Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke, whose career as a politician is coming to an end. I am sad to see him make remarks that can only bring shame on parliamentarians.
I wonder if the hon. member, as a former chair the Standing Committee on Public Accounts and a senior member of this House, with 36 years of service, could tell us what message he thinks he is sending the Canadian people with remarks like that. When he chaired the public accounts committee, would he have let the auditor general's report be torn to pieces along with the auditor himself, who simply did his job and nothing more?
Why was this issue, which was before the public accounts committee, referred to the finance committee, an obscure committee controlled by the Liberals? The Liberals are the majority on the finance committee. Right there, there is cause for concern, there is something fishy.
A member with 36 years of experience in politics just does not lend himself to this kind of thing. Either he stays put or, better yet, he stays home because these goings-on were downright unacceptable. He mentioned experts, tax experts, the same experts who participated in the making of the December 24, 1991, decision.
In what way were the rules of law adhered to and the wish to get to the bottom of this issue respected, this issue raised by the auditor general, who, thankfully, is not working for the Liberal Party but as an agent of this House.
They shot the messenger with red hot bullets to shut him up. They tried to discredit him. Why is the ruling party doing that? Could it be that the auditor general has uncovered something he was not supposed to uncover? Did he express suspicions he should not have expressed? What need was there to attack the auditor general and deal with this matter on the quiet in a finance committee controlled by the Liberals, who are, as we know, the major players on these committees?
Does the hon. member, who has 36 years of experience in politics, take pride in what he is trying to have Quebecers and Canadians alike believe? He should not have a hard time convincing them, seeing that the scandal was revealed by sovereignists, members of the Bloc Quebecois. It is easy to convince the Canadian public, terrified of the BQ, that it was a bad thing the BQ uncovered. But the auditor general is not a member of the Bloc. He is probably the man with the highest moral authority in all of government. This is the man that they have tried to tear to pieces for possibly putting his nose in something he should not have put his nose into.
I urge the hon. member to make amends and acknowledge the fact that the Standing Committee on Public Accounts should have given the matter full consideration, reported to this House and recommended an enquiry.