Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to speak to the Canadian Alliance supply day motion which calls for the establishment of an independent commission of inquiry into the operations of the Department of Human Resources Development. This is all about accountability. It is about holding ministers and the Government of Canada accountable.
We have seen this story on the front page of newspapers since last summer. Canadian people are becoming increasingly frustrated. That is becoming evidently clear. They are absolutely beyond belief as to what has gone on.
We see the stories about the various grants. The Prime Minister's own riding receives more money in grants and contributions than any of the prairie provinces. There has to be something wrong. It is all about politics.
I am speaking on behalf of the residents of Saanich—Gulf Islands, but I think it goes much further than that and includes all Canadians. For months and months and months the government's only answer has been to deny, deny, deny. It absolutely refuses to accept that there is anything wrong.
For days we sat in the House of Commons and listened to the Prime Minister tell Canadians that $149 or $650 were missing when $1 billion were unaccounted for. It has cost, I would guess, hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions, as the government tries to spin the issue and attach projects to the money that has gone askew.
We learned that something in the neighbourhood of 15% of all grant applications did not even have paperwork. They could not even find to whom the cheques went. They were in absolute panic mode trying to find solutions. That is why there has to be an independent inquiry. There needs to be answers.
I read this morning's paper in which the government says that this issue is absolutely exploding out of control once again. It just cannot seem to get control of this department. What is the solution? Its solution has been to deny, deny, deny. Now it seems most interested in creating a soft landing for the current minister.
Nevertheless the Prime Minister stood in the House in 1991 when he was leader of the opposition and said that ministers in his government would be held accountable if there is any boondoggle. There were to be no exceptions. They would be held accountable.
I have been following what has been going on in the House of Commons for the last 20 years. I do not think there has been a prime minister, for as long as I can remember, who has ever defended the indefensible. It is absolutely unbelievable. The Prime Minister will go to any length to protect his own.
What has he done now? The Prime Minister has decided that the best way to try to cover all this up, and that is what is the motivation, is to split the department into three. As one of my colleagues said in the House a few moments ago, if we take a pile of manure and split it into three we still have three piles that stink. This stinks. There is no other word for it. It is absolutely rotten.
The government is arrogant. It laughs. It smirks. It grins. It refuses to answer questions. The minister has been asked questions in the House of Commons by every opposition party, by all four opposition parties. The government laughs. It does not take it seriously.
Throughout the history of Canada, when governments start acting arrogant, refusing to answer questions and thinking they are above it all, there has been one consistent result. The voters throw them out. We watched it with the Tories in 1993 when one of the largest majority governments in the history of Canada was reduced to two seats. Why? It was because it believed it was sitting on a pedestal and did not have to answer to anyone, that it was completely unaccountable. It became arrogant. It forgot about the people who sent it here and whom it was representing. It did not take it seriously.
I am in absolute disbelief that we have a department with billions of dollars in its annual budget and the stuff that goes on is incomprehensible. It is unbelievable how this can go on and the government comes up with a nice fancy little talk about having a six point plan. Its six point plan seems to be deny, deny, deny. That is about the only thing the government seems to come up.
I sat in the House of Commons yesterday during Oral Question Period. When the minister was asked specifically if she knew prior to November 17, she refused to answer. The arrogance is incredible.
It is time that we have an independent inquiry. When four opposition parties of very diverse backgrounds agree 100% that this should happen so that Canadians can have some answers, it is time for it to happen.
Of course we know that government backbenchers will get their marching orders. The Prime Minister will probably stand on a chair in the government lobby tonight at 5.15 p.m. or 5.30 p.m. after the bells have rung and wave his finger at every government backbencher and tell them they know how they have to vote if they want him to sign their nomination papers. A great big club is held over their heads. That is wrong. It is absolutely undemocratic.
I am sure there are members on the opposite side who probably have a lot to offer, as do opposition members, to the governance of the country and the debates, but they have no voice. They do not have a voice, Mr. Speaker. You can look shocked, but you and I both know what really happens in this place. That is what needs to change.
This motion is about Human Resources Development Canada. That is just the tip of the iceberg. As many of my colleagues will say, it is rampant throughout other departments. We can see it in Canadian Heritage in the grants that go out from there. It is absolutely enough to make one's skin crawl, hanging dead rabbits in trees and many grants for other things.
It is about accountability and respect: accountability to the people who sent us here and respecting them. Change needs to be brought to this institution. There is no question that we are less than a year away from an election. The Canadian people will judge the government on what it has not done. It believes it is above everyone else. We need to elect a government which can change that and will be accountable.
I am proud to be a member of parliament with the Canadian Alliance because I truly believe that we can offer the vision and change the country so desperately needs. It will be interesting to listen to the Prime Minister's answers today on the latest revelations in the media that they want to take a pile of manure, split it into three and see if it still stinks. I would suggest that anyone would be able to tell them that they have not gone to the root of problem and have not done anything about solving it.
I encourage every government member to rise above the Prime Minister's finger, do what is right, show that they actually have some guts and principles, and vote in favour of this motion, as they know it needs to happen.