Elections Canada  Mr. Speaker, I have here the election campaign report for the Bloc candidate in Pontiac, the riding the hon. member was referring to. This report indicates that as of January 1, a total of $17,800 had been transferred to the local Bloc candidate. On May 4, the candidate returned $17,720 to the Bloc to pay for advertising, according to Elections Canada.

Elections Canada  Mr. Speaker, the member would like to know why Elections Canada has chosen to investigate a method that is the same as the other method. We would like to know the same thing. “During an election campaign, the candidates pay collectively for national expenses.” That quote from the Bloc whip comes from the December 22, 2001 edition of Le Soleil.

Elections Canada  Mr. Speaker, it should not be forgotten that Elections Canada is aware of our practices precisely because we informed them of the transfers, which are completely legal. We will continue to co-operate with everyone because all our procedures and all our actions have been completely legal and ethical.

Elections Canada  Mr. Speaker, Conservative candidates spent Conservative money on Conservative advertising with the help of transfers from the national party. Elections Canada found out about all of this because we told it. Why would we not? After all, these practices are legal and normally undertaken by all parties.

Elections Canada  Mr. Speaker, allow me to quote from the April 4, 2003 issue of La Presse: Considered legal but not in keeping with the spirit of the Elections Act, the technique known as in and out has been used by the Bloc Québécois, as has recently come to light. The leader of the PQ, Bernard Landry, admitted yesterday that his party had also used this technique.

Elections Canada  Mr. Speaker, the invoice the hon. member refers to was an invoice originally and mistakenly bundled by the advertising firm. As a result, the Conservative office simply divided it up, and gave it to the candidates who owed the amounts in question and added the GST. That is very clear.

Elections Canada  Mr. Speaker, Conservative candidates spent Conservative funds on Conservative ads. They got financial assistance from the national party to do so. Elections Canada found out about it. How? Because we told them, and why would we not? After all, it is legal and all parties do it.

Elections Canada  Mr. Speaker, I do not know why the member would target his former Liberal deputy prime minister with those kinds of smears. After the 2004 election, the director-general of the Liberal Party, a candidate in Alberta, wrote to local Liberal campaigns saying: During the past election campaign, the Liberal Party of Canada in Alberta transferred funds and/or paid for services in kind directly to the candidate-- This was for an ad that ran in the Edmonton Journal for which the local campaigns had no approval.

Israel  Mr. Speaker, next week on May 8 the state of Israel will celebrate its 60th birthday. I rise today to congratulate the Jewish state for what has been a miraculous achievement in the last six decades to create one of the world's most advanced democracies. Unfortunately here at home, radical left-wing groups are targeting the Jewish state.

House debate  Mr. Speaker, we will continue to encourage the artistic community with what is a very lavish and generous tax credit program that helps artists flourish in the country. We will continue to support the Liberal draft legislation, which is in Bill C-10, that deals with the tax credit.

House debate  Mr. Speaker, in order to assess whether the bill was really ill-conceived, as was suggested by the Liberal member, we must ask ourselves who conceived it. In fact, it was the former Liberal deputy prime minister, Sheila Copps, who wrote the bill when she served in the previous Chrétien cabinet.

Election Expenses  Mr. Speaker, I regret that she referred to my constituents as marginal. In fact, I did only squeak by with a 20,000 vote margin in the last election. Conservative candidates did in fact spend Conservative funds on Conservative ads. They got financial assistance from the national party to do so.

Election Expenses  Mr. Speaker, according to the member, we did not ask a candidate to participate in our transfer program. I do not see a problem there. Conservative candidates have spent Conservative funds on Conservative ads. They got financial assistance from the national party to do so. Elections Canada found out about it because we told Elections Canada.

Elections Canada  Mr. Speaker, there is no use getting worked up about this. In May 2004, the Bloc sent about $30,000 worth of invoices to the candidate who is now the member for Abitibi—Témiscamingue. A few months later, the Bloc wrote a cheque for about $30,000 to the member. And guess what? Ten days later, the member wrote a cheque for more than $30,000 to the Bloc.

Elections Canada  Mr. Speaker, there is also the media. In December 2003, the National Post's Andrew McIntosh said, and I quote, “Bloc brass then advised all Bloc candidates, organizers and volunteers to use a system called 'La Methode In & Out' to inflate campaign spending to meet targets.” That is why the Bloc leader is known as the father of the in and out method.