Mr. Speaker, the smell of corruption, scandal and kickbacks that has been emanating from public works has outraged many Canadians. Whether it is former ministers or current ministers, nothing seems to change. There are contracts without open bidding, contracts to friends, hospitality at mansions supplied by contractors, money for reports not written, kickbacks to the Liberal Party, conflict of interest rules broken or ignored and government procurement rules ignored or broken. Unfortunately it is only a matter of time before we find that money has made its way into a minister's pocket.
The minister of public works must come clean. Democracy is about openness, transparency and accountability. It is time the minister of public works and indeed the entire government respect democracy and demonstrate that this is the best form of government, not the worst kind of government as the Prime Minister said this morning.