Madam Speaker, to the member for Peace River, several business people have come into my office to determine what kinds of loans are available for business ventures, investments or perhaps grant type loans to help their businesses expand or get over a hump. I have met perhaps a dozen such people during the years I have been in parliament, and I have advised them to go to the Business Development Bank.
Representatives from the Business Development Bank have advised me on the services they provide. At no time have I ever had an opportunity, if I should put it that way, to force, strong arm or cajole BDC representatives into giving loans to the people who come to my office for assistance.
Let us look at the sequence of events surrounding the Business Development Corporation loan. The first occurred when the Prime Minister contacted the president of the Business Development Bank, first by telephone and later by lobbying him at 24 Sussex Drive, to get a loan for the golf course and hotel.
What does the hon. member see as abnormal about that compared to, say, what might happen in any member's office when loan applications go through indirectly to the Business Development Corporation?