Mr. Speaker, my colleague's question was well put. He asked whether the Auditor General's being able to audit the foundations would inhibit the foundations' ability to act. I do not think it would. I do not think it inhibits the ability of the departments to act on the different programs within the departments that she audits now.
What she does bring to this is a measurement. There is some measurement that the public can see through their parliamentarians of whether the goals of an organization as outlined in its mandate and rules are being achieved.
It seems to me that the more transparency we can bring to this process, the better off we will be. Credibility in the whole process is very important. Canadians are participating less in the democratic process. The voter turnout in the last election was only about 60%. As people are really concerned about the way matters are being handled here in the nation's capital, it has the ability to turn people off in terms of voting. If they think they are not being listened to, or if elected members are not being listened to, or if they are not getting the proper respect, people get turned off in the process.
The more transparency we can bring to this, the more accountability of taxpayers' dollars, the better off we all will be, especially as it pertains to the corporate sector. The corporate sector has gone through some tough times. I remember the current Prime Minister when he was finance minister giving a speech in Toronto a few years ago. He lectured the corporate sector to get its corporate governance in order. I would give him the same advice.