Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to participate in the adjournment debate on this next to last day of the session, which was marked by the scandal at Human Resources Development Canada.
As we know, the federal government lost control over $1 billion in grants. We found very serious problems, administrative management flaws and a total lack of control by the ministers responsible, both the former one, now the Minister for International Trade, and the current Minister of Human Resources Development.
Worse, the government shamelessly used public funds for partisan purposes during the last election campaign. As we know, the RCMP is currently conducting 12 investigations.
Worse yet is the fact that the effectiveness of the job creation program was questioned. Today, newspaper headlines are to the effect that the Liberals are considering eliminating these programs. All this because of the mismanagement of public funds.
We must make a clear distinction between the relevancy of the job creation programs and the way they are managed. But this government will certainly be held responsible.
What sort of solution did the government propose? With respect to the issue of administrative management: dismantling the department. I would be in favour of that, and in fact I was the one who suggested it to the committee. But there has been no proposal from the Prime Minister or from the government for a department that is truly accountable.
Why was the present minister not asked to resign so that another minister could be appointed to oversee the dismantling of the department? This minister's mandate could be for a specific period of time. At the end of the road, there would be a new and clear situation. The problem would not be carried over to future new departments.
As for the use of money for partisan purposes, that is very serious on the eve of a federal election. We have the same situation we had four years ago. If it wants to, the government will be able to use public money to try to win the election.
We will see the same scenario all over again. Money became available, particularly in the ridings of Bloc Quebecois members who were here in the 1997 election: 63% of the money spent under the transitional job fund over three years was spent during the election campaign, which is utterly shocking. The government has put no measures in place to correct this situation.
Why is it that the government does not have the political will to do something about this? Are there secret groups behind this? Is it because this was how the election was won in Saint-Maurice that the government does not want to sort this out for the future? Why did the government refuse to conduct an independent, public inquiry, as the opposition parties unanimously called for it to do?