I am sorry this displeases the hon. member for Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot. Anyhow, I still intend to restrict my comments to the debate and to the motion before us, at least as much as I can.
The issue of the financing of political parties is an issue of interest for a large number of Canadians. Let me say first of all that the federal electoral system we have in Canada has been considered for a long time as fair for the candidates and for Canadian taxpayers. It continues to be the envy of many countries.
Our electoral system has been imitated elsewhere. It is the envy of several countries in the world, as I just said. It tries to balance public and private financing and allows rich people—there will always be some—as well as people coming from more modest backgrounds, myself included, to run for election and to sit in the House of Commons.
We expect candidates and political parties to raise funds from private sources by presenting policies that Canadians wish to support. The candidates present their platform and ask people to contribute to the financing of their election campaign. In my opinion, the system works.
Furthermore, in recognition of the importance and of the role political parties and candidates play in our democratic system, a portion of public funds is earmarked for elections.
Two major funding tools exist for providing that funding. In part there is the reimbursement of election expenses. We are familiar with how that system works. There is the tax credit for political contributions.
I want to explain that for a couple of minutes.
With respect to candidates, the reimbursement provided is 50% of the candidate's expenditures, providing that the candidate receives at least 15% of the votes.
In my riding, none of my opponents obtained 15% of the votes. Consequently, they lost the deposit I just described.
As it pertains to political parties, they receive 22.5% of the reimbursement. There is a condition which was added during the last Parliament. I was a member of the committee which brought the change, which is that a party that has official status must receive 2% or more of the number of valid votes cast at an election or 5% of the votes cast in any individual riding where the party has a candidate. This amendment was brought forward by an hon. member of the Reform Party during the last Parliament. The committee agreed that it was a valid amendment. I believe that member is now the House leader for the Reform Party. It was a good amendment and we approved it.
Political parties may accept contributions if the parties have registered status. They may issue receipts year round for tax credit purposes.
Candidates, on the other hand, may only issue receipts once they have filed their nomination papers. At election time each candidate also issues receipts for the period after filing their nomination papers. Those receipts are issued by our respective financial agents.
There are a number of other restrictions. A person who is not a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident in Canada cannot make a contribution, nor can a corporation or an association that does not do business in Canada. This is to ensure that it is Canadians who fund the Canadian electoral process.
Foreign political parties or governments or trade unions with no bargaining rights in Canada are also prohibited.
Although there is no limit on the size of any contribution, candidates and political parties are restricted in their use of such funds by the limits which are in place at election time.
There is a further restriction, which is that the tax credits, once a certain amount is reached, become null and avoid. In other words, if someone makes a further contribution they do not receive a tax benefit.
The members of the Bloc Quebecois, this morning, are saying that the system must be changed and replaced by a system where political parties will not allowed to receive contributions from corporations. I see that the member for Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot is saying that, yes, that is precisely what they want.
The Lortie commission, an important commission which published a report on electoral financing—I have a copy of the report here, but of course I cannot show it to the camera—made several recommendations. I must point out to you that the commission has recommended neither that only individuals be allowed to make contributions nor that a maximum be established for contributions. It is important to note that the commission, which is non-partisan—I hope nobody says that the Lortie Commission is partisan—, never made such recommendations.
I see some members opposite making light of the recommendation of the Lortie commission. However, it is important for us to note a few things.
The Bloc is pontificating today. Indeed, the Bloc leader told us earlier that his party does not take any money from companies. However, some of the Bloc members here in this House today have received corporate contributions. A good many of them. There were 27 corporate contributions during the 1993 election.
Some of the members who are sitting here, looking at me, received some of those contributions.