Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the intervention from my colleague. As an experienced member for the region, certainly on this file, his thoughts certainly are welcome. However, I do find it curious that now that the Liberals are in opposition, they find sin in things in which they found virtue when they were in government.
We are talking about a motion which deals with unsolicited proposals to the government. As I said, of course we believe in open tendering, transparency and competition for taxpayers' dollars and contracting. There is no question about that
The member should know that the former Ottawa city hall building at 111 Sussex Drive, which is in the member's district, was appraised at $85 million and purchased by the government for $60 million, 30% below market value. Tenants there currently include: the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Canada School of Public Service, Public Works and Government Services Canada, and the City of Ottawa. This was done through an unsolicited proposal, the very process that would terminate if we took the very approach that he has spoken about in his speech.
If this is such a bad idea now, why was it a good idea when he was in government?