I've heard my friends across the way, who seem to love incorporation by reference. They may one day be sitting on this side of the table and regret the fact that they introduced incorporation by reference. As has been said many times by those of us and those who are older than me, “Be careful what you ask for”. That is because at some point in time it may be utilized in a way you may not have anticipated. It's all well and good when you have control and you have power, but it's not necessarily so when you don't.
I know that Mr. Harris has that understanding, because at one time he was on the opposition benches and he knows what it feels like to be on that side of the ledger. It was a long time ago, I recognize that, Mr. Harris. And you were, indeed, a very good opposition member when you were there, sir, if I may put that on the record.
Clearly for us, the piece is that when you incorporate by reference and you do this to legislation over and over again, regardless of what you feel is a business way of getting things done expeditiously, ultimately you take parts away from our role as parliamentarians, and that's the piece you should think about.
I recognize that this is the direction this government is taking, and you have every right to do that. I think there are some times when you take the reports back to the folks who are sponsors of the legislation, the minister, you should think about incorporation by reference and whether that's what you really want. As I said, at some point there may well be someone else doing things by reference that you won't like. Ultimately, one ought to think about whether you want to give up the powers of a parliamentarian to incorporation by reference, or whether you want to maintain them for all of us, because it is about all of us as parliamentarians.
I think you're eroding that piece, and I think it's a mistake. I understand that you don't, and I respect the fact that you don't agree with us. We'll see how the vote goes, Mr. Chair. I am a betting man from time to time, when I think I can really win. Scotsmen never like to part with their money so I'm pretty sure I'll win this one. It will be 5 to 3 for sure. I'm not sure about my colleague and whether he'll vote with us or not.