Mr. Speaker, I do not envy Conservative backbenchers as they head out on the barbecue circuit, forced to defend broken promises on the Senate 59 times, broken promises on transparency, broken promises on electoral fraud and phony campaign financing. The only defence they can come up with is that they are not quite as bad as the Liberals used to be.
Through you, Mr. Speaker, I ask Conservative backbenchers: Is this really what they came to Ottawa for, to defend the unbridled patronage and rum bottle politics that they used to so resoundingly condemn?