Mr. Speaker, I would like to speak to Motion No. 2 which is asking for legislation to establish a mechanism for reporting a decision made by a commission back to the House of Commons.
I have to support the motion. Over the period of the four or five years that I have been here I have watched how parliamentary democracy is being undermined by a government which continues to transfer regulatory authority and other authority to boards, commissions and the executive branch of government, cabinet, without considering bringing those decisions to parliament and allowing elected officials to discuss, debate and make comment on matters that will have dramatic effects upon Canadians.
I have been very concerned about the tendency for this to occur. It is just another indication or another vehicle where we see parliament being removed from the decision making aspect or even the accountability aspect of what the government is doing. That is a very dangerous precedent for us to support.
As parliamentarians who have been sent here to represent Canadians, people across the country, it is imperative for us to be watchful that parliament retains its authority and its ability to watch and check things occurring in government agencies and boards.
There is a need for an arm's length commission to make decisions on salary and pay benefits. The concern raised by the electorate outside the House on pay increases for members of parliament is a good example of what happens when people have a benefit to reach in making decisions.
An independent commission was established to look at the pay and benefit packages of members of parliament. That commission put out a report. The report from that independent body was completely ignored by the government. We are faced with parliamentarians once again having to deal with changes to their pay and benefit packages. That should not occur.
Parliamentarians should never be in a position of having to debate and having to support or not support their salary and pay benefit packages. That should be totally removed from people who benefit from those decisions.
I suggest the same point should be considered in terms of this commission. We have a commission made up of individuals who belong to the judiciary one way or another, or who are attached through the justice department, the judiciary committee or whatever, to a decision on what pay and benefit packages the judges will be given. That is wrong. It should be an independent arm's length group that makes those decisions and those decision should be reviewed by the Parliament of Canada.
I may sound repetitive but I cannot express it enough. I do not think Canadians are aware of what is happening. I do not think Canadians realize how much authority and decision making is being removed from members of the House. I do not think Canadians are aware of how powerless the House is becoming because of legislation that hands over responsibility and authority to non-elected boards and removes them from any accountability or follow-up.
We have seen it with parole boards and immigration review committees and this commission and that commission. We saw it once again with the commission struck by the House, or by somebody, to review our pay and benefit packages. Committees and commissions come up with decisions which do not have the support of the Canadian public that has no recourse.
We have often asked questions about semi-judicial committees and boards. We have been told that they are arm's length and cannot be held accountable. Who can hold them accountable if it is not the House or a committee of the House?
The motion makes a whole lot of sense. All it is asking, as I understand, is for a commission to report back to a parliamentary committee so that the parliamentary committee can review its report and can make a judgment on behalf of Canadians whom we represent as to whether or not the report should be supported or the recommendations should be legitimized.
If for a moment we stop trying to hold commissions, committees and the executive branch of government accountable to parliament, we are undermining the whole parliamentary system that Canadians think exist.
I have absolutely no problem and I would encourage all members of parliament to support the motion which asks for parliament to know what is going on, to be able to ask questions about what is going on, and to be able to bring it into the public forum so that the Canadian public knows what is going on.
Much of what happens outside the House, committees, commissions, boards and the executive branch of government, cabinet, is held behind closed doors. It is not public information. The discussions are not public. Whenever that happens Canadians become suspect and often with very good reason. They become cynical. They feel that if it is not a debate that is happening in public there must be something somebody is trying to hide and they become less willing to support the end result.
We see it in the judicial system. We see it in the parliamentary system. We see it in the immigration system. I could go on and on. Canadians are losing respect and their support for what we are trying to do because of the things done behind closed doors.
It is very important that in the 36th Parliament we do everything we can possibly do to bring our discussions and debates into an open forum. We should not only allow Canadians but encourage them to participate in the discussions and in making decisions that have to be made about where Canada is to go in the next millennium, what kind of direction we should be going in and what end result we are trying to reach.
This is one measure with which we can start opening up the process, opening up the dialogue, opening up committees, commissions and boards, and letting Canadians know that we are not afraid of talking to them or of including them in the discussions. We should encourage them to enter into what is happening in the House.
I would like to see support by all members of the House. It would send a strong message to Canadians who are wondering what we are doing that we are open, have nothing to hide and want accountability. We want to be able to bring forward boards and commissions that are accountable to parliament. Then we could stand behind the decisions we make. We could review issues in a House committee and the House committee could make suggestions. Then the executive branch of government could respect the decisions, the reports and the recommendations that come before it.
If we had a government and an executive branch of government that respected parliament and the decisions made by committees and commissions which are held accountable through parliamentary committees and parliamentary sessions of the House of Commons and its members, Canadians would become less cynical about government and about politicians and certainly less cynical about the justice system and the judiciary.