Mr. Speaker, I want to ask the member for Scarborough—Rouge River a brief question. I listened to his speech and I think I got the point that he was making, which is that he found it offensive for the word “corruption“ to be used again and again in relation to the incredible scandals that have been revealed to Canadians over the last few years, but it seems to me that he has entirely missed the point.
First, the reason why “corruption” has come to the lips of so many people is that finally the cloak of secrecy around a lot of activities has been lifted. The result is that brought to the light of day have been a lot of very unacceptable practices. Unless the member has failed to knock on any doors and talk to electors, he has to know that this has caused a lot of concern among Canadians, to the point where trust in political processes is at its lowest ebb in Canadian history.
Does the member not understand that the whole point of the federal accountability act now before us in its final stages of being debated is to try to lift that veil of secrecy, to bring to the light of day what kinds of practices go on and that, in an attempt to prevent the kinds of corrupt practices that have been revealed and have shocked Canadians, we actually are going to clean up our act and be seen as restoring public confidence?
If the member does not understand where that is coming from, I suppose I understand now why he is voting against the bill.