Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to take part in this debate. I have been puzzled by some of the remarks earlier, and I will come back to it with a question for the hon. member opposite because I know he is from British Columbia.
The leader of the fifth party earlier talked about the former premier of British Columbia, Mr. Bill Vander Zalm, and he talked about a report that had been done by Mr. Ted Hughes. I think he said that in his report Mr. Hughes had stated that the premier was the highest elected position in the province and that he had a duty with respect to conflict of interest.
I was living in British Columbia at that time and what I think the right hon. member forgot to mention was the fact that there was a small matter of $15,000 or thereabouts in bank notes that were in the safe of the premier's fantasyland gardens, or whatever it was called, just outside of Vancouver, and it happened to be from a land developer, et cetera.
In this particular case, it is fairly clear that the Prime Minister had no personal interest. He had a debt owing to him but the shares had clearly been sold even though the share register was not updated. As a chartered accountant, I have dealt with many companies with registered shares that had not been updated for years on end. I had to tell them to update.
The shares were clearly sold. The Prime Minister tabled the bill of sale. He had a receivable from someone who was an executive of some means so that the loan could be recovered through the courts. It had nothing to do with the interdependence of the golf course and the hotel. It had everything to do with a receivable from a person who had the means to pay the receivable. It was a fixed sum.
I find the debate is really out of hand. I know the hon. member is from British Columbia so perhaps he will remember the incident involving the former premier, Bill Vander Zalm. I think to draw that analogy is absolutely scurrilous.