Madam Speaker, I state my support for the motion put forward by the member for Winnipeg—Transcona. Since our return to the House of Commons on September 21 we have watched daily how the government has continuously fumbled the ball with regard to the APEC inquiry.
Things are definitely going from bad to worse, for what value do Canadians hold more sacred than freedom of speech? It seems that what matters most in this instance is, instead, protecting the Prime Minister's reputation.
In the fall of 1997, the Prime Minister gave orders for repression of the students. It is now obvious, a year later, that he has not learned any lesson from this. His repression of the students continues.
This time pepper spray is not being used. Now the principles of natural justice are going by the board.
While the government is arming itself with an impressive collection of lawyers, the students are left to their own devices, the excuse being that they are the complainants in the case and that there is therefore no obligation to pay for their lawyers.
In fact, at the very time it was refusing to cover the students' legal fees, the government had just engaged three additional lawyers. It has also retained the services of an expensive public relations outfit to do something about its tarnished image.
But it continues to tell us it is unable to cover the students' legal fees. There is something very hollow sounding about the government's arguments. It is as though it were trying to convince us there was no such precedent in the Canadian legal system. Has it forgotten the court challenges program? This is a program that allows individuals to challenge the actions of various levels of government when they are inconsistent with the provisions of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Why can the government not take a page from this program and provide the students with adequate representation before the commission? What is it afraid of? In my opinion, those involved are afraid of damaging their almighty reputation. What they do not realize is that, with each passing day, each new allegation, and each attempt to cover up the truth, their reputation is slipping ever lower in Canadians' eyes.
The proof is in the editorial pages across the nation. Already they are calling for the solicitor general's resignation. There are plenty of other examples of newspapers handing down the verdict of Canadians.
Does the solicitor general really think that denying the students funding will improve his reputation with the public? And what about the Prime Minister's reputation?
The recent cover story in Maclean's in my opinion clearly points out what is wrong with this government. The problems it has incurred are directly related to the actions of the Prime Minister. In the article Donald Savoie of the University of Moncton, who has recently finished conducting interviews with past and present cabinet ministers for his upcoming book, concludes that our national institutions, starting with parliament, and I will include cabinet, are in bad shape. They are being bypassed.
What is slowly being revealed is the existence of our own dictatorship right here in the Prime Minister's office. We have watched the Prime Minister from go from not knowing what pepper spray was to being something he puts on his plate. He then makes the weakest of apologies and goes on to declare only a few days later that he was happy to have pepper spray instead of rubber chicken.
Yesterday he floored Canadians when he went on to say that the pepper spray victims were lucky that they were not beaten with baseball bats.
Pepper spray is a banned substance in Canada. It is illegal to bring it across the border from the United States. Women can no longer purchase it to protect themselves. Yet the Prime Minister feels it was civilized and appropriate for the dispersal of a gathering of non-violent protesters on a university campus. Plain common sense would tell us that those remarks were inappropriate. However, the Prime Minister makes no apologies. I conclude he must believe he is above that.
The students have been victimized in the affirmation of their charter of rights. Now the solicitor general has victimized them again by refusing the commission's second request for funding of legal representation for the complainants. The common sense approach to this would be to either provide both parties with legal representation or to have both parties appear before the commission without legal representation.
Day after day the solicitor general has told this House in question period that he has every confidence in the commission to find the truth. He states we should let it do its work.
Meanwhile, the commission has told him not once but twice that it requires funding for the students' legal representation. In the commission's view this is needed for it to continue to do its work in proper fashion.
We have seen some very courageous and sensible arguments today on this motion. Common sense is something we have come to realize is desperately lacking in the government today.
Our ancestors fought world wars and sacrificed their lives to assure future generations of this country the freedom to express their views without censorship. The power of freedom of expression is a notion that came alive for us in this House when we had the privilege of hearing Nelson Mandela's powerful words only a few short weeks ago. It is sad to watch this hypocrisy before us now.
The PC party was never afraid to face down a bully on this planet. I take great pride in telling this House that my caucus will not take a step backward from the bully who runs this government today.
We have seen time and time again the Prime Minister and his cabinet being guilty of abusing their powers of office. They have gone on witch hunts in the Airbus allegations. They cancel helicopter contracts only to purchase others, costing taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars for their partisan views.
More recently we have seen the way they act by whipping their backbenchers to vote down the full compensation to the hepatitis C victims. We have seen them shuffle those within their own ranks for speaking up for Canadians, for speaking up for the very people who put us here. They spoke in the context of common sense and were then gagged for doing the right thing. The bullying arrogance of the government has become its greatest curse. Canadians are beginning to see the true colours of this government.
This motion does not ask the government to admit any wrongdoing. However, it does appeal to all in the House today to grant the commission its request to a level playing field. Let us give the students the funding they need to present their case. Let us all use our common sense and do the right thing. Let us allow the complaints commission to do its work in seeking the truth.