Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to stand and represent the people of Saanich—Gulf Islands. I am not too sure if I am so pleased with what we are speaking about.
I have to ask a simple question: Why are we now having a discussion about Bill C-34, which is about ethics? The reason we are having this discussion is simply because of all the scandals that have happened involving ministers and the abuse of public funds. It goes on and on.
Let us have a closer look at exactly what is happening. I would suggest that the bill demonstrates how little respect the government has for this place. There is no question that we do need an independent ethics commissioner. The Canadian Alliance has pressed for such a move. The response, though, is typical: a lot of smoke and mirrors to hide the absence of any real, meaningful change.
In truth, I would like the House of Commons to be a place where we did not need an ethics commissioner. I would like to believe that all parliamentarians would be in a position where they would not be promoting their own personal gain over that of public service. However the problem is that once we have power we lose focus. We lose sight of the fact that we are here as public servants. We are here to serve the public but we become mostly interested in self-promotion.
Six years in this place has taught me that we see more and more self-promotion. Time and again we have witnessed serious conflicts of interest. Unfortunately, when these conflicts happen is anyone held accountable? No, they are not held accountable, but even worse, they are rewarded.
Nothing will change after Bill C-34 passes into law. Like so many bills that have come from the government, it is not about reform. This is a public relations exercise. It is designed to show that the government cares about ethics, but it does nothing to uphold them. The government will be no more accountable as a result of this new version of the ethics commissioner than it is currently.
Right now we have an ethics counsellor that is appointed by the Prime Minister. What would happen under the new bill? The Prime Minister would still appoint the ethics commissioner and it would be ratified by a simple vote in the House of Commons. However what happens in this place? As we saw during the hep C vote and other votes, when some of the government members even talk about voting against their own party, I am told, although I am not privy to witnesses, in the government lobbies that the Prime Minister actually stands up and tells his own members that if they do not vote with the government they will not be Liberal candidates in the next election. It is that simple. They then fall into line. In some cases we have seen them literally in tears, with mascara running down some of their faces as they stand up to vote against their own beliefs and everything they have stood for to follow the government.
Let us look at some of the specifics here. Why are we having this discussion? This is a government where cabinet ministers help their personal friends through Human Resources Development Canada and are awarded diplomatic posts when they are caught; a government where a Liberal advertising company is given $1.5 million to write the same three reports and no one thinks there is anything wrong with it; a government where corruption in sponsorship programs is so widespread that the 2002 Auditor General's report revealed that senior bureaucrats broke every rule in the book in awarding contracts to Liberal contributors. This led to revelations of waste in government advertising spending totalling over $230 million. Has anyone ever been held accountable? No. No one has actually said that there is something wrong and that it needs to be fixed. Government members go into justification mode and try to justify the expenses.
The current Prime Minister has consistently used his position to unfairly lobby in his home riding where his friends received $600,000 in grants from HRDC where the only approval is announced without any departmental paperwork, and where internal memos revealed the government office felt that it had no choice but to approve the grant since the Prime Minister had personally promised money even though it did not meet existing guidelines.
This is wrong. Exactly one-third of the $90,325 in donations to the Prime Minister's 1997 personal election campaign has been linked to grants, contributions and contracts in his riding. Is it any wonder that the Canadian public has so little trust in this place?
The government comes along with a “new” ethics bill, but it is a whitewash. It is not genuine. The Prime Minister is still going to appoint, and absolutely nothing will change; prime ministers still can secretly solicit advice from the ethics counsellor.
Let us look at British Columbia's legislation. In the British Columbia legislature, an all-party committee, an all-party representation, has to select appointments for the ethics commissioner, which are then recommended to the premier. It is done by all parties. It is not an appointment by the Prime Minister. They select the candidate and advise the premier, who makes the appointment, which then has to receive a ratification vote in the legislature of two-thirds of the members.
Not here: this is another charade. It is another game. It is another way to fool Canadians. This is a public relations exercise. This is not about public service. This is about their own self-promotion. It is wrong.
Let us go to the member for LaSalle-Émard. Of course he is going to be taking over the government. In fact he will acknowledge that he wrote the Liberal red book in 1993, which incidentally promised “an independent ethics commissioner”. In 10 years, he has done absolutely nothing to ensure that it happens.
If we are going to create an ethics commissioner, then that ethics commissioner must have certain characteristics if he or she is going to actually be useful. They absolutely must be independent. They must be acceptable to all parties in the House, not an appointment by the Prime Minister and a rubber stamp in this place, with its own members being threatened. They must have their decisions open to review by Parliament. This bill fails on all counts.
Why have the Liberals failed to deliver a true ethics commissioner? I believe it can only be for one or two reasons. It could be because they know just how inappropriate the behaviour of their cabinet has been. They know that a truly independent agency would expose these conflicts and force them to resign.
Or could it be they feel in their hearts that all the things I mentioned earlier were completely fair? That giving special deals to friends is part of being an MP, that being the Prime Minister or the Minister of Finance means that they can be just as carefree with their telephone calls and stock options as any other backbencher, and that when ministers of the crown gets caught with a hand in the cookie jar the worst they should endure is to shuffle back to the House leader's office or a short holiday to Denmark. That is punishment, is it not? When one gets caught with a hand in the cookie jar, how about an appointment to Denmark? It is pretty good over there, what with being given a nice new house, a car and a driver, and a big fat salary, all on the backs of the taxpayer. That just sounds wonderful.
I know Canadians can see the difference. Why cannot the government see the difference?