Mr. Speaker, first I want to express my deep appreciation to all members who took part in the debate. This is a very important topic, and members' opinions are very useful.
I want to take a moment to try to summarize a few points that were raised with respect to the bill. My hon. colleague from the Bloc Quebecois had some reservations about the bill because he felt it created stricter rules for members than it did for ministers.
In all due respect to the hon. member I would say the bill does just the opposite. The bill would apply to all members including ministers and the Prime Minister. There would be baseline rules for everybody. If the Prime Minister wants to create stricter rules under the bill for his cabinet members for whatever reason he could do so, but the bill would apply to all members of parliament including members of the Senate. It would accomplish the purpose about which my hon. colleague has some concerns.
With respect to the comments made by the hon. government member regarding all measures that are currently in place, I guess the very fact that this issue keeps coming forth, as he indicated over and over again, indicates that perhaps all measures in place are not working the way they should, or else the issue would not constantly keep coming up. As he indicated I certainly did research the previous studies and the previous efforts that were made. The bill builds upon them and tries to codify and bring together all the loose pieces under a workable piece of legislation.
With respect to the hon. member's comments he mentioned that the Right Hon. Prime Minister said that ethics should not be a partisan issue. This is exactly why the bill has come forward. It is not a partisan issue. It is an issue that would apply to all members regardless of political stripe, regardless of whether or not they hold office. The system in place is open to suspect in terms of the ethics counsellor who currently reports to the Prime Minister and does not have in the real sense any objectivity in terms of reporting to parliament as a whole. Therefore there is even within the current structure a system that allows for a perceived conflict of interest.
I am sure all hon. members would believe and understand that even if something is being done correctly there is no harm in having it looked at because that removes any air of suspicion the public may have with respect to actions by elected members. The bill would certainly enhance the role of parliamentarians and would provide for transparency.
I have already expressed my disappointment that the bill was not made votable. I recall someone saying that I should not expect it to be made votable because nobody would really want to vote against it; it would be like voting against motherhood. I understand that, but it is time we voted for motherhood and stood up for something that would perhaps help us improve the way this institution operates on behalf of Canadians.
I did not get a degree of confidence from the people to whom I spoke as I was campaigning and still speak to. They do not have any great degree of confidence in the House and in the personal ethics of everyone in the House and the way we operate. As a matter of fact I think we are rated close to the bottom of the pile on the list of professions. We are down with used car salesmen, I believe.
Anything we can do to improve the image of parliamentarians would be helpful. I understand why the hon. member on the government side would not want to see the bill come into play because it certainly places an additional onus upon us.
I agree with one opinion expressed by the hon. member on the government side. We cannot legislate behaviour and ethics. Ultimately the law that has to apply to all of us is the law of love that comes from within and comes from the heart. I honestly urge all of us, regardless of what legislation is on the books, to examine our actions from within and continue to strive on behalf of those whom we represent from a point of view of love, integrity and respect for other people.
I was speaking with a grade five class in Basinview school in my riding the other day. It struck me that these young people were very much interested in the parliamentary system. I stressed to them the most important thing of all, that no matter what occupation they pursue they should do it with honesty, integrity and a sense of transparency and respect for other people.
As we draw close to the Christmas season I wish all my colleagues a very, very merry Christmas, happy new year, happy holiday season, and all the best in the upcoming millennium.