Mr. Speaker, I look at the government benches and I see a party that has lost its way and betrayed its roots. The member for Edmonton—St. Albert writes:
I joined the Reform/conservative movements because I thought we were somehow different, a band of Ottawa outsiders riding into town to clean the place up, promoting open government and accountability. I barely recognize ourselves, and worse I fear that we have morphed into what we once mocked.
My constituents demand better.... For a government that was elected on a platform of accountability, my constituents are gravely disappointed.... If we are measuring our ethical performance against the Sponsorship Scandalized Liberals, perhaps we need to set our ethical bar a little higher....the Government’s lack of support for my transparency bill is tantamount to a lack of support for transparency and open government generally.
I have debated with the member for Edmonton—St. Albert. We do not often agree, but what we do agree on is that MPs have a calling, an obligation to reject the politics of cynicism and manipulation and to stand up for the principles of transparency, accountability and open government.