Mr. Speaker, in recent months Canadians have witnessed a most disgraceful spectacle in the House of Commons, the spectacle of an opposition that is such a sore loser and so lacking in constructive ideas or solutions that it has abandoned issues that are in the public interest in favour of the relentless pursuit of a campaign of personal destruction.
Whereas Canadians want to hear discussions of the state of the economy, the opposition is obsessed by the Prime Minister's personal finances, by a transaction that was carried out from beginning to end in total compliance with the spirit and letter of the code governing ministerial conflicts of interest.
Taking refuge behind the legal immunity conferred upon them by the House of Commons, they have piled groundless accusation upon groundless accusation, spreading crazy insinuations and blackening the reputation of the Prime Minister and his family.
A man of irreproachably honourable personal conduct, the Prime Minister deserves better than to be the target of such a barrage of groundless allegations and calumny.
From the very beginning, the hon. member for Saint-Maurice and Prime Minister has deserved my support.