The member asked was it contradictory, of course it was. Mr. Duhaime said that he had a hotel that depended on the golf course in which the Prime Minister was a part owner. Last November the Prime Minister was not a part owner of a golf course. He sold his shares in 1993. There is a contradiction by Mr. Duhaime, and members are arguing whether Mr. Prince or Mr. Duhaime are saying things. If they have a problem with the facts that are represented by others not in this place, maybe they should go to them.
I would like to close on what I think is happening. I believe that in this matter the opposition has repeatedly used the House of Commons as a shelter to make baseless allegations, spread outrageous innuendo and smear the reputations of, not only the Prime Minister but his family and anyone else who happens to disagree with their opinion.
That is exactly what is happening here. As for the press, who have no ethical standards themselves, no ethics commissioner or counsellor and no rules of the game except to sell as many papers as they want, let them report on the facts and let us judge the media on how they report the baseless allegations of the opposition.
The opposition has asked in the motion today to establish a judicial inquiry with the broadest possible terms. It has asked for a licence to go wherever it wants, when in fact the issue here clearly is whether there was a conflict of interest during the tenure of the Prime Minister. The facts are clear that the shares were sold on November 1, 1993. The only interest at all that the Prime Minister carried after that time was the fact that moneys were owed to him by Mr. Jonas Prince.
Mr. Jonas Prince and the Prime Minister's consulting firm, his company, were the only two parties to this. There was nothing that could happen subsequent to that, no loan amount, no effort, nothing else, that could change the amount that he was owed. There was nothing he could do and nothing he could say. Therefore, there is no ongoing financial interest with regard to the golf course or the hotel.