Madam Chairman, I would note just for the record that in the market research to which the hon. gentleman has referred, the 69% figure referred to no particular government or political party but indeed to the federal political system. Quite frankly, I think it was a message to all of us that we have to be very sensitive to the concerns among Canadians about the administration of public business.
We can perhaps talk about some of the initiatives that can and should be taken, but one specific step that I would note for the hon. gentleman is that on Monday last, when I had been in office for less than one day, I did take the step of applying a moratorium to any new approvals under the sponsorship program. My concern was to satisfy myself that the criteria of the program were proper and appropriate in the circumstances and that the projects in process would meet those criteria.
That freeze remains in effect. I have been examining the questions over the course of the last week. I hope to remove the freeze in the next number of days but not until I am satisfied that the information before me indicates a situation which respects the public trust. That is an incremental step that I took immediately upon coming into office.