Mr. Speaker, I would be happy to address both parts of the member's question, starting with comments I made during my speech about perceptions of corruption from the allegations that led the Prime Minister to finally address this issue generally in the spring of 2002.
If the member had listened carefully to my speech, he would know that I made no specific allegations of corruption in this place. It certainly would not be my intention to exaggerate and make unfounded accusations because that does not serve any of us very well.
I was referencing the context in which we find ourselves today and bemoaning the fact that it has taken so long for us to get to some point where as an elected assembly we can deal with some of these concerns and the perceptions that the public has about this place.
It is absolutely critical for us to acknowledge and understand that when the newspapers have headlines about bureaucrats who have been charged with criminal wrongdoing and numerous counts of fraud and bribery it impacts on all of us. It helps set the context and makes it more urgent than ever that we act expeditiously and in good faith with the best possible legislative framework for dealing with our own affairs as members of Parliament.
The member should know that I was speculating on why the Prime Minister moved on this as part of his legacy agenda and whether it was about putting ethics first or putting the former finance minister in a difficult spot. I said at that time it was about the present government trying to put a band-aid over incidents involving RCMP investigations and perceptions of corruption in cabinet. A government in an ethical sense would have done this back in 1993.
I say to the member that the allegations which have resurfaced around the sponsorship program should be enough for us to recognize that we have to act on this and we have to act on our own affairs and do so with the highest possible standards.
We have said this past week that the new speculation around money that has been involved in these sponsorship contracts finding their ways into Liberal Party coffers has to be enough to call for a public inquiry and should be enough for the government to say to Alfonso Gagliano in Denmark that his job is done and he is fired.
We have to start taking decisive action where allegations are made, where evidence is forthcoming and where public perception affected.
I am not casting aspersions on anyone. I am not trying to exaggerate the situation. I am trying to make the case for why this proposed legislation is urgent, why we are all disappointed with the shortcomings in the bill and why the Liberals could have done more.
My question for the member is this. Why did he and his colleagues not support the amendment at committee to require a two-thirds majority with respect to the appointment of the ethics commissioner? The member wants to know how can we protect cabinet and how can we do this. I say to him that we have a basic issue at hand which is let us have clear rules in place and a proper appointment process so there is no tainting of the position and let us get on with the job, whether we are a cabinet minister or a backbencher, so people have declared their interests and we have an ethics commissioner who is independent to investigate and rule on any allegations.
Until we can get an the answer on the question of why the government has refused to move beyond a 50% plus one appointment process, we will be unable to address the member's question about cabinet confidentiality.