Mr. Speaker, I want to commend the member for, as usual, bringing his superb legal skills and knowledge to bear on the very serious issues that are before us. He has spoken ever so clearly as to why we as politicians and parliamentarians have to be prepared to meet a higher standard of public conduct than is normally thought to be required of the average person and the average institution. Such is the nature of holding public office.
I have a question that arises out of the member's reference to the 2005 global corruption report, which shows that Canada has descended, almost tumbled, from fourth to 11th place in terms of being clear of major corruption. Canada was in 11th place actually before the shocking revelations of the systematic corruption that is eating away at the Liberal Party and destroying the credibility of the government.
We know that corruption can cost governments and countries. It can even cost people their lives in some instances. I wonder if the member might speak more directly to what it is costing in terms of the confidence in our democratic system, costing in terms of the democratic processes that go to the very heart of our--