Madam Speaker, I listened intently to my colleague's comments with regard to this scandal. We have to ask ourselves why Canadians are having such a difficult time with this?
It drives right to the character of an individual when we review some of the things that have come to light in the last couple of weeks. There is the $137,000 compared to $160 million. That was not a loan guarantee for the shipping company of the Prime Minister. This was an actual grant.
This was knowledge long before it came to light here two weeks ago. We have to ask ourselves why the character of an individual, who has tried to say he is Mr. Clean to a nation, would not have come forward a year ago? We have to ask ourselves if this drive to the character of an individual. When he took the reins as the Prime Minister of the country and knew about the scandal long before, why did he not come clean with it on December 12 or 13. All he did was cancel the program. He did not go after heads. He did not go after the money that was lost, if he was aware of the scandal.
Driving to the character of the individual, how Canadians can look at him as being believable, when he goes from coast to coast this week and says that he is Mr. Clean and that knew nothing about the scandal?
Canadians have to also question what the Prime Minister said with regard to health care and education. He has said that these are his number one and number two priorities. However, when we look at his history, he is the individual who took $25 billion from health care in the last decade, leaving it wanting and weightless. We now have a shortage of over a million doctors and nurses at a critical time. When he says that health is the number one priority and when we look at the history of the individual, is he believable? Health care is Canada's number one treasure.
Could my colleague comment on whether this gives us a pattern of a character flaw?