Madam Speaker, I will continue with the quotation. “When the current government boasts about the economic results, which are starting to look good, it does so as the heir to the Conservatives, as the manager of strategic decisions that were made by its predecessor”. This is what Alain Dubuc, a very well known editorial writer in Canada, wrote in La Presse .
Whenever one of my colleagues rises, whether they are members of the official opposition or of the government—they agree on that—they start talking about the results of the Progressive Conservative Party. After dozens of motions for closure on the part of this government, I am not afraid to say that, at the time, we were not afraid of what this government is now afraid of doing concerning the Canada Elections Act, concerning Bill C-20, which seeks to provide a framework for future referendums in the country.
The Liberals absolutely do not want to consult the public to find out what it thinks of this measure. After decades of Liberal governments, I think, and I do not want to engage in rhetoric—I am well aware of the best way to emphasize a reality—that arrogance, contempt and indifference toward the House of Commons and toward all Canadians are now part of a behaviour that is beginning to spread throughout this government.
The government is ramming Bill C-2 through with mere technical amendments and without an in depth review. It is not true that Canadians, including people in Alberta, British Columbia, Quebec and Ontario, have nothing to say on the reform of the Canada Elections Act. It is not true that Canadians do not know what is going on in this country. It is not true that this exercise was useless.
At the time, I was sitting on the committee considering free trade, which held hearings across the country, with the current Prime Minister. It is not true that we learned nothing from listening to Canadians on this issue, which was just as vital.
Fortunately, because the government respected Canadians, it consulted them. They made us aware of the importance of better structuring marketing, coming up with a free trade agreement that would enable the country to increase its exports to the U.S. market by 150%. The government felt it important to do that.
This was also the case for the tax reform that led to the GST. This tax is bringing in $24 billion this year. The purpose at the time of creating it was not to scrap it eventually, but to scrap taxes. That did not happen.
It is not true that consulting the public and, for a committee, going to hear what people have to say, is time wasted. I am convinced that, be it Bill C-2 or Bill C-20, which concerns a constitutional matter, it is not a waste of time.
I will mention, as an example, the 1995 referendum? What did the present government say to Canadians? It said “Do not get upset, we will assume leadership, we will take it in hand, you may rest in peace”. Things rested in peace until the great rally in Montreal. They rested so peacefully with the opium of the present government that the yes side ended up with 49.4% of the vote.
I say to my anglophone colleagues “Do not sleep too heavily with a government that is afraid to consult the people”.
This bill is extremely important. It will result in some purely technical considerations. Why not have agreed to examine this issue in greater depth?
With respect to appointments, I put a question to the chief electoral officer. Some of my colleagues were in committee at the time. I asked him whether he felt that his recommendation that there be an objective process for appointing returning officers was essential.
I can tell the House what he said. I cannot say that he is a member of the Progressive Conservative Party. He is one of the most respected public servants in the country. He replied “Yes, it is essential for all sorts of reasons. Political appointments as returning officers have incredible repercussions on the daily management of election campaigns. If politically you appoint people without the qualifications, without the necessary potential to do a good job, the result is problems with day-to-day management”. This is what the chief electoral officer told the committee.
Unfortunately, we are headed nowhere with this. I managed to get a few technical amendments approved, but the rest amounts to nothing.
On the issue of funding, members of other parties were open to a study that might one day lead to increased funding from the government so that elections could be conducted in full objectivity.
The Bloc Quebecois has its own view on this issue, which was very well explained by its whip. The same is true for the other political parties. Unfortunately, on the issue of funding, we are no further ahead.
I hope that one day the committee will be able to examine the issue of the funding of the country's national political parties. I think that this puts democracy in this country in serious jeopardy.
There are numerous other aspects. One of the most detrimental aspects of this bill is the control of the activities of third parties during election campaigns. The people who promote political involvement, third parties, are not millionaires. These people will be so mired in administrative procedures that are difficult to understand and impossible to manage without professional resources that the government will be better able to control the next election campaign.
I would have said much more, but I see that my allotted time is up.