Mr. Speaker, with respect, obviously the member's previous life was as a person who was fully vested in teaching and practising the law. I respect his observations, but I do not agree with them. Under current funding agreements there are instances where ministerial sanctions could take place, but they remotely or rarely ever occur. We do not see this legislation as taking us any farther down that path.
However, with respect to disclosure, any constituents in Canada can go to a given website of their respective government to access these financial documents, except for first nations communities. With respect, that is a substantive element about fairness.
In what appeared to be a rather declivitous trajectory in the narrative of a New Democratic member, that member actually made statements to support our legislation, if you will, simply saying that as a matter of fairness it should be one rule for all and everybody should have access to those documents. It is important for decision-making, prioritizing in the community and the conversation that should occur between a member of a community and its elected officials.