Madam Speaker, first, I want to congratulate the member for Bras d'Or—Cape Breton on his new position. It is nice to see a fellow maritimer being elevated within his own party. I hope he does well in that.
The member talked about disclosure and transparency. One of the things that always amazes me about the Liberal Party is its ability to finance an election without any apparent local support. I know this has happened in Bras d'Or—Cape Breton. We hope the new legislation stops this from happening.
However under the bill contributions would be made to the Liberal Party of Canada, not to the local organizations. I know what would happen in the Liberal organization in New Brunswick Southwest. Most of the money would be given to the federal organization. The federal organization then would write a cheque and transfer all the money needed to run an election back to the local level. The obvious reasons are that many of these associations could not raise money at a local level.
I want the member to be very forthright and tell the House how much money he received from the federal party in that election, whether or not he feels that was right, and whether or not he feels the legislation would prohibit that from happening in the future?