Mr. Speaker, I listened to the conversation pieces that the hon. member brought forward to us and there were points for us to ponder.
He talked about hypocrisy and mentioned some historic cases where there were problems. The government is bringing forward this legislation because of those problems. We want to tighten things up. The Canadian public has much mistrust right now.
I would bring the member to an event that was held this week by the Liberal Party. It was trying to get around the rules and regulations by having corporations and wealthy individuals bid where the sky was the limit. The Liberals were told that it was unacceptable, they were caught, so they changed the event at the last minute.
What the government is trying to with this bill is very straightforward and simple. We want all Canadians to have an equal right to run for office, not just the wealthy. If candidates need loans, all we are asking is that they get the loans from legitimate sources, in other words, banks and loan institutions, not their wealthy friends. We are asking for support for this bill because we believe in equality for all Canadians who want to run for office.
I want to ask the member a question straight up. At his party's last leadership convention, Bob Rae, a Liberal leadership candidate, spent $845,000, $200,000 of which was from his own brother. Does the member think that is appropriate or does he prefer to have candidates borrow it from accredited lending institutions? What is better for all Canadians?