Mr. Speaker, I join the leader of the Bloc Quebecois to thank members of the opposition parties, who accepted this debate, which is of paramount importance to us, and made it possible.
The questions I would like to ask at this time are: why is there a parliament and why are we here today? Why have we been elected to this parliament?
Parliament was not created to be used by the government or the monarch but to serve the people. Parliament is much more ancient than democracy; at the time of the monarchy, it was decided to bring together elected representatives of the people to act as a check and balance, give advice and tell the king “We like this, but we do not like that”. The voice of the people could be heard through parliament.
Parliament was never meant to be used by the king, the monarchy or the government. Parliament's role is not to support the government. Its role is to express ideas and to serve as a check and balance to the huge powers of the executive. This is why ministers and the Prime Minister have to answer questions by the elected representatives of the people every day. It is a normal process. We call it democracy, and this is what gives it strength.
The government, before making important decisions, must submit to a public debate and face all members of parliament. This process allows us to improve legislation; it is the fundamental difference between a monarchy or a dictatorship, where decisions are taken and imposed from the top down, and a democracy, where the government does not have all of the power. Of course, it does have the power to manage the affairs of the country, but this power is subject to public debate.
For the government, there is a political price to pay when decisions are taken. This is what democracy is all about. This is what we are doing here. I hope that members understand that they have an important responsibility to express views that differ from the ones held by the government, since government members are bound by the principle of cabinet solidarity.
Opposition members are here to express points of view. This is why society has been able to solve problems without fighting. There is no more bickering, no more war; we do not fight any more, we debate. We have found a civilized way of expressing points of view.
It is all very well for those who have the majority to rule, but they will have to pay a political price for their actions. If those actions are not good, then parliament can debate them. It alerts the population. The media are an integral part of the democratic process and they ensure that our decisions, our debates are made known to the public. This forces the government to improve its legislation. It restricts the scope of the government's activity. It does not give the government all the power because parliament acts as a check and balance.
There are three principles underlying parliament. The first is that parliament is totally independent from the executive. Parliament is where the people are heard. Parliament should not have to serve the executive. Parliament is not the servant of the executive; it is rather a check and balance to the executive. The second principle is that the Speaker has to be neutral.
Mr. Speaker, I tell you this sincerely. I consider that you have always made very high quality rulings in this House. I wanted to say this to you during this debate. The Chair must maintain this neutrality at all cost because the Speaker is the one who protects me. He is the one I called upon this morning, asking “Does our presence here means something or not? Just because we are separatists, does that mean we do not have the right to speak?” It is up to the Speaker to protect me, give me the right to speak, allow me to put questions to the government and make my point of view known. You have always done this admirably.
The third principle is the one of confidentiality regarding everything going on here. Every political party has the right to work in full confidentiality, to avail itself of the services of the employees of the House, who serve us admirably. We call upon the Clerk, we call upon the Sergeant-at-Arms, we call upon the whole staff that works here, and we always get impeccable service. We are entitled to such service.
Those with a long career in parliament know that their first duty is to set aside their political opinions and be as generous with a separatist—even though we are in the federal parliament—as with a government member. They have always done so admirably.
But a problem has occurred. There has been a breach of the principle of confidentiality and openness with respect to a political party, in doing its job; as a result of administrative measures taken in the past, and to which we subscribed in good faith, the confidentiality of the services of the legislative counsel who is here to serve members, be they members of the Bloc, Conservatives, members of the Reform Party, New Democrats or even Liberals, has come under question.
The work of the legislative counsel must be absolutely non-partisan, and entirely confidential. He is a person who works selflessly to allow members to put their point of view across, draft a bill, or draft amendments. All this is in the realm of political strategy, it is a sensitive issue, it is hard to do. It is a sensitive issue because the legislative counsel must abstain from expressing his own opinion. He has to be an expert at the service of MPs of all political stripes, and that is hard to do.
The way the work is organized has, however, resulted in a situation where their proximity with the clerks of the House of Commons, and the fact that the computer, a new working tool, now allows people to access anything that is being worked on, has led to certain elements of the Bloc Quebecois strategy—and it could just as easily have been the Reform, the Conservatives or the NDP—being used in good faith by someone wishing to expedite decision-making on whether to accept or reject amendments. This is what the Speaker has to do, and a number of people are involved in it.
What I wish to say is this. Unfortunately, a problem arose. It has now been realized that this close proximity means that confidentiality is no longer assured. One of the basic principles of parliament is right of access—and I know that the Liberal members across the floor are completely in agreement with me—to non-partisan technical assistance.
This is why I believe you need to reconsider the ruling that was made, perhaps a little too hastily, or perhaps without all aspects being presented. I would ask you to reconsider this decision, because it is fundamental and it concerns one of the principles of parliament.
Everybody will come away from this motion with their head a little higher if you make one of the following decisions.
The first would be to re-establish the matter of confidentiality by changing our current procedure, which no longer ensures confidentiality for us.
The second would be to provide resources directly to the parties to enable them to have their own legislative counsels to ensure their data will not be disclosed again. Otherwise, we will have to assume that confidentiality is no longer valued by parliament, and I know that this is not the case.
Mr. Speaker, I would be very happy to propose the withdrawal of this motion or to vote against it if you honestly agreed to give the principle of confidentiality its full due. Administrative changes are required: either the parties must be given their own legislative advisors or this matter must be put before the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs for its consideration and recommendations.
This is what we are asking you, it is the aim of the motion. I am sure that, in your usual wisdom, you will consider our remarks to be extremely serious and intended to serve parliament and nothing else.
In concluding, I move:
That the motion be amended by adding after the word “Beauharnois—Salaberry the following:
“on Friday, March 3, 2000,”
This is simply to make it clear that the matter was raised then. I consider it important to add it. It does not change the substance.
I would ask you to consider our request with your usual open-mindedness and you will have our full support. But it seems to us something must be done to ensure confidentiality.