Mr. Speaker, as the one who put forward this motion I appreciate the opportunity to ask the first question and make one comment.
The hon. member for Winnipeg Centre will have some words to say later and I will leave it up to him to determine exactly who is right in this debate over what the minister committed to. The minister talked about not reneging on a commitment he made to the hon. member, so I will let the hon. member speak to his recollection of that conversation.
The minister appears to be loading everything on the backs of the parliamentary committee by saying that it has abdicated its responsibility in bringing forth suggestions to the minister. I find that shameful because that is simply not the case.
It seems that when it is politically convenient the government and the minister say that it is not their fault that there is no legislation before the House. It blames the committee. They say that they asked the committee to come up with all of these recommendations, that they asked for its assistance and wanted to consult with it, but that the committee simply did not do its part. I can honestly say that this is the first time I have ever heard anybody from the government side of the House say that he wishes to consult with any member of the opposition. It simply is not true.
This issue has been before the House for several years and everyone in this assembly agrees that it is an important and timely issue. The government has been dragging its feet by not presenting a form of legislation that we could at least debate and take back to committee. In my view, the minister is the one who is abdicating his responsibilities by blaming others rather than blaming himself.
When will we see legislation being brought forward by the minister?