Madam Speaker, I am as puzzled as I think you are by that intervention. I do not think I am alone in that. However we respect the House leader for standing up and doing his best to provide clarity, if nothing else.
I was talking about some of the things that were left out of the bill such as: board and audit committee members being independent; limiting non-audit services that auditors could provide to their clients; and requiring an organization's chief executive officer and chief financial officer to certify that the annual financial statements fairly represent the organization. In other words, to ensure that the information that executives are presenting is true, fair and accurate. Another recommendation was to prohibit compensation committee members from being a member of management and require them to have expertise in compensation and human resources. This is the human side of it and I think it would go a long way.
This is not just about investors or capital markets. It is about the kinds of wealth that capital markets can create provided that we have confidence in those capital markets. That confidence has been tarnished in recent years for the reasons we have outlined, and which most members have.
To get back to a level of respectability, when we and our neighbours invest, we need to be confident that the accounting information and the recommendations we receive from stock brokers and others is accurate and not tainted. If the information is tainted and not represented properly by those representing the company, we need to know there will be consequences for those people such as stiffer sentencing and prison time, as some Enron and Tyco executives will serve if proven guilty.
I think we all support this type of legislation. It is a little slower coming to the House than it was in the United States of America, but I think we have had a chance to identify some of the weaknesses in its legislation. I know our party is prepared to support the government on this initiative.