Mr. Speaker, we all know now that former journalist Robert-Guy Scully will have to pay the price of lost professional credibility for his conflicts of interest. As we say commonly, he was looking for it.
However, those who want to put this situation down to a quarrel in Quebec between sovereignists and federalists are really missing the point of the issue and simply repeating the spin put on it by National Public Relations Inc.
What this unfortunate story reveals is the scope of the federal government's propaganda operation, which goes so far as to make use of a few of its rich Liberal friends as figureheads in order to whitewash and hide its budget.
Let us not forget Option Canada and the Council for Canadian Unity. When the Minister of Canadian Heritage tells us that she will be delighted to display the maple leaf when her department spends more millions of dollars in “federal communications” operations, we do not believe it for a minute. Secrecy and concealment are key elements of the success of propaganda.