Mr. Speaker, you caught me somewhat off guard, because I was expecting my Liberal colleague to speak. I am pleased to start.
The motion before the House today is quite interesting. It concerns one of Canada's principles, namely, democracy. A simple principle of democracy provides that the electorate through its elected representatives must control the expenditures of the government. This is fundamental to democracy.
In the same vein, if taxpayers' money is spent, taxpayers are entitled to know how it was spent. This too is part of democratic control of government. It is a very simple matter, it is a matter of transparency.
We all know the role opinion polls play in our society. They play an important, some say too important, role. The fact is, their role is important because they provide not only qualitative information but quantitative information on very specific subjects. The government uses them to direct its policy, because all governments are influenced by opinion polls.
If what the government is trying to achieve through these polls is to give direction to this policy, the information collected should be shared with all elected representatives, who need to be “enlightened” too, because while the government must do a good job, the elected members of this House must be as “enlightened” as the government team across the way in order to perform their duties as parliamentarians.
This issue ties in with the problem of national unity, for we know what this government does with the polls it commissions in Quebec. It uses them to identify the fears and concerns of Quebeckers. Not only was Quebec taxpayers' money used to identify their fears, but it was also used to develop Plan B and to turn the information gathered against the same Quebeckers whose money was used to pay for these polls. That is utterly unacceptable.>These poll results are used to add fuel to the scare campaign and pervert the democratic process.
We will recall that, two years ago yesterday, a referendum was held in Quebec. There were passionate, serious, yet healthy discussions around the issue. I think that, with a 93% rate of participation in this referendum, we were a model of democracy to the world. We are proud of this. We are often accused of acting outraged. Well, we are boasting now, and with good reason.
What has happened since the Quebec referendum? There was the federal government's scare campaign and Plan B. There was the diversion of democracy toward unelected officials. They said the sky was going to fall if Quebeckers ever took their destiny into their own hands.
It is perfectly normal for Quebeckers to know what they are paying for. Quebeckers ought to know that the taxes they pay are used against their best interests. In a democracy, elected representatives should, as a minimum, monitor government expenditures and know what the government does with public funds.
If the government decides to spend millions of dollars on polls which are sometimes totally ludicrous, it should be pointed out in the House to show that, fortunately, ridicule never killed anyone, otherwise there would not be many government members left.
The bottom line is that the government is using Quebeckers' own money to finance its fearmongering campaigns.
This is why the Bloc Quebecois will strongly and passionately support the motion tabled by the Reform member.