Mr. Chairman, while he is reviewing and pondering, I would like the minister to think about the link between those agency names that pop up all the time and the contributions to the Liberal Party of Canada.
People question the credibility of the system because of the link between the excessive 12% rate for sponsorships and the number of those companies that have made contributions to the Liberals' campaign fund.
The minister is being very naive. We almost want to give him communion without confession, as people used to say when I was young and folks still used those expressions derived from our Judeo-Christian tradition. We would almost be tempted to do so. I would also like him to think about that.
Furthermore, I would like the minister to examine the proposal of the Bloc Quebecois asking that there no longer be any intermediary and that the total amount of the visibility sponsorships of the government of Canada be paid directly to the organisations responsible for the events, even if you have to appoint officials--you have officials with you--who will check whether the rules for the awarding of sponsorships were followed or not.
We must not forget that all this is being done with taxpayers' money. I would like to correct an error the minister made in his preliminary comments. He compared these contributions to those of a private company sponsoring an event.
I am sorry, but this is not like a private company. If, for example, Volkswagen, Audi or BMW sponsors the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières, or if BMW sponsors the Vancouver Grand Prix, what we have is a private company that is accountable only to its shareholders.
However, in the present case, we are talking about taxpayers' money, and people have a right to ensure that the money is given in full to the organizations responsible for the events.