Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for South Surrey--White Rock--Langley for her comments.
I would like her to comment on the call for an independent ethics commissioner. It was a post that was promised by the federal Liberals in the last election, or three or four elections ago, but it has never been delivered. The ethics commissioner would become an independent officer of parliament, reporting to parliament instead of reporting to the Prime Minister. That is the way to go.
I would like the hon. member to comment on the other independent watchdogs of parliament: the auditor general, who recommends that the finance minister is in contravention of using generally accepted accounting practices; the privacy commissioner, who condemns the government for its intrusions on the privacy of Canadians; the access to information commissioner, an independent commissioner, who condemns the government for the way that it is secretive in keeping things away from Canadians who deserve to have it; and the EI auditor, who says that the fund is vastly overfunded and Canadians are being overcharged day after day for the privilege of working.
Every time an independent officer of parliament reports to parliament the government ignores it anyway. The independence is good because it is the proper way to report it. To the government, even independence does not mean that it will actually listen.