Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to respond to my colleague from Charlottetown. Some nine years ago we used to sit in a similar place in the rump, so it is good to be back together in a different context. He will play an important role in this should the government agree, because I believe my colleague is now the chair of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts. It is one of the committees that plays an essential role in terms of the stewardship of taxpayers' money.
As he knows, in answer to his question of whose money it is, it is the money of Canadians. It is a first duty of parliamentarians to ensure appropriate scrutiny is provided to this money before it goes out the door. Of all people, it is the Conservatives who ran on this point of view in 2006. Now when they are the government they are taking the unacceptable position of abandoning every notion of even the smallest modicum of accountability.
I agree with my colleague that this is not acceptable behaviour.