Mr. Speaker, what a sad end to this mandate. The cat is out of the bag at last and the reports by the information commissioner and the auditor general have brought in their verdicts: the economy is fine, the government is not.
Throughout its mandate, this government has systematically blocked information, held back documents and refused to co-operate with the information commissioner.
The commissioner has just released over his signature a damning report making unprecedented charges against the Prime Minister, his office, and a number of departments.
As for the auditor general, he has roundly criticized the sloppy management of public funds by Human Resources Development Canada and the fact that there are a number of files under police investigation.
What a sad end to a mandate: a government that is under the burden of criminal investigations, and a Prime Minister who has no fewer than four of these going on in his own riding. This is unheard of.
On the eve of an election campaign, I say to the government “We can hardly wait to get out on the hustings to start talking about Liberal values”.