Madam Speaker, there is a lot to go over here. I can say that much.
What I find truly amazing is that anyone following this debate, which I hope does not have to go all afternoon, will see the hypocrisy that is oozing out of the Conservative Party of Canada. It is really quite amazing when we stop and think about it. The current leader of the Conservative Party was one of the staunch defenders of Stephen Harper in a very big and very real, tangible way. He was someone who defended the blind trust. Stephen Harper, as prime minister, was the one who put in the rules by which we operate today. Not only did the former prime minister Stephen Harper put in the rules, but one of the largest advocates for the whole idea of the blind trust was the leader of the Conservative Party.
I find it absolutely amazing that the Conservatives cannot see the hypocrisy there. I am not surprised, in the sense that the Conservative agenda is very much not focused on Canadians but rather focused on the Conservatives' own self-serving party interests. They constantly put their party ahead of the interests of Canadians.
Let me read a quote that comes from a CBC article. I cannot say his name, but I can say that he is the leader of the Conservative Party. It states:
[The leader of the Conservative Party] previously appeared to have no issue with public office holders using a blind trust.
In 2010, Nigel Wright was brought on to be then prime minister Stephen Harper's chief of staff after a career in the private sector.
Wright appeared before the House ethics committee—of which [the current leader of the Conservative Party] was a member—to discuss his appointment, a conflict of interest screen that was set up with the ethics commissioner and a blind trust.
I cannot say the leader's name, but he was actually a member of the committee.
The article continues:
[The leader of the Conservative Party], a parliamentary secretary at the time, said opposition MPs had “attacked” Wright's motives for taking the job and asked him to explain his blind trust.
“I transferred all of my controlled assets into the blind trust in late October. The blind trustee is the legal owner of them all now, and I'm not to have any communication of any sort—no direction, no advice, no information about what's in there. I do not know and will not know what's in there,” Wright told the committee.
[The leader] responded by acknowledging Wright's experience in the private sector.
“There are going to be people in this public service world who come from different backgrounds,” he said.
“But that is a strength for our country. We look forward to inviting people from various sectors, in this case the business sector, but from all sectors, to make a future contribution to our country.”
Talk about selective memory. This is today's leader of the Conservative Party, who advocated the benefits of a blind trust. He was an enforcer for Stephen Harper, who put in the rules we have today. Now, the Conservatives have apparently changed their clothes. They have gone as far right as one could possibly imagine, and they are more focused on character assassination than they are on any great substance of interest to Canadians.
That is what we have witnessed from members of the Conservative Party in their transformation. They know no shame.
What were we supposed to be debating today? There was a superior court that made a decision related to citizenship. There is a deadline coming up on that legislation. We have to pass it before November 20, which means passing it through the entire system before it is ultimately given royal assent. If we do not, we will not have a law that deals with the issue of citizenship of descent. Conservatives have been putting up speakers to this, but the legislation needs to pass.
We have the budget coming down next week, on November 4. We have bail reform legislation, something that the Conservatives like to talk a whole lot about, but when they have the opportunity to deal with it, what do they do? They do silly things of this nature when, in fact, we have a Prime Minister who has followed the rules. Even before he was the Prime Minister of Canada, and even before he was a member of Parliament, he followed the rules. Across the way there has been absolute silence. Each and every one of them should be ashamed of the way in which they continually try to attack the character of individuals over protecting the interests of Canadians. If they had an ounce of integrity, they would see through the game that is currently being played.
When I posed the mover of the motion a question, I asked this: Why was it being introduced today? What was the purpose? What was the motivation? It did not have to be brought in today. I even cited the bail reform legislation and citizenship legislation that we are supposed to be debating. I even made reference to the budget. What was his response? It was, “Well, we want the House of Commons to commit, in terms of concurrence. After all, that is what we are supposed to do.” What a crock that is. The member knows it. We get tabled reports coming in from standing committees all the time. If we were to have a three-hour debate on that, we would never get any government business dealt with. The member knows that.
Do we remember last fall when Conservative backbenchers were jumping up and down, hollering and screaming, bringing in all sorts of privilege motions and motions of concurrence? They were a destructive force on the floor of Parliament back then. Interestingly enough, I do not think they brought any concurrence reports. I would have to confirm it. I am pretty sure they did not bring any concurrence reports prior to their leader getting re-elected in the by-election, which implies to me that their leader is still having a difficult time recognizing the need for change, in terms of what it is that people said in the last federal election. Is that any surprise when we take a look at how it is that we have had a Prime Minister who has been focused on Canadians throughout the election and following the election?
We cant take a look at the agenda, at what the Prime Minister and Liberal members of Parliament have been able to accomplish. Contrast that to the obstruction that we get from the Conservative Party.