Mr. Speaker, I want to reiterate that governments have an obligation, if it is a priority question, to answer within 45 days if it is within the realm of possibility to do so, if it is the art of the possible. The member should know, if he truly wants an answer, that writing a question consisting of over 1,500 words would not allow the government to answer by the deadline.
Since he says that he wants answers, he should present a question that is procedurally correct and break the question down into smaller parts. The reason the Liberals ask lengthy questions is so they can then have three more questions on the order paper of the same length at the same time. That is the delaying tactic. They are trying to force government departments to spend time and money answering questions, when in fact those departments should be doing more important work, in my view, of bringing forward legislation.
If he wants Parliament to work, let us let it work.