I know that, Mr. Speaker, and I will correct it right away. The member should have stated what the commissioner said. She said that the member for West Nova always acted in good faith. Because the member for West Nova always had acted in good faith, I do not think it is right or appropriate for any member of the House to talk about him having been found guilty of something. There is no guilt involved.
It is a contravention of the code, which was caused unwittingly, and it could have happened to any one of us. I do not think any one of us ever thought that the implication of the code was as soon as someone stood up to sue us that suddenly we would prevented from participating in the rest of debate.
However, when the member talks about exoneration, the member for West Nova still faces a very powerful lawsuit from a very powerful and well financed individual, an individual who he has to deal with as a citizen of Canada. He will deal with that in whatever way he can and he will deal with it as best he can.
The suggestion that the existence of that lawsuit should prevent the member for West Nova from participating in the parliamentary life of this Parliament and from participating in debates is, on balance, a judgment which is simply too harsh. It is one that members should state their views to the commissioner as to how they feel about whether in their judgment this necessarily is the kind of thing we intended.
I do not believe we ever intended that the existence of a lawsuit relating to our responsibilities as members of Parliament would prevent us from participating in parliamentary debate and decisions. This was never our collective intention, and I do not believe that the decision can be allowed to stand for that reason.