Mr. Speaker, I would like to speak directly to the point the hon. Conservative House leader has raised. However I just want to go back to a theme that came up in his discussions with the member for Toronto--Danforth.
This is an underlying theme I find in the government's defence of its practices and an attack that comes up frequently, in particular when issues of ethical government are raised by members of the Conservative Party and sometimes used when members of my party bring up issues of concern. Although not worded this way, the argument goes something like this: “Maybe we are crooks but you know what, look back at history, Brian Mulroney was a crook--