Mr. Chair, I want to give an example that shows how important it is to look into things closely.
On November 22, Mr. Gord Miller, the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario, appeared before us. Speaking about the Environmental Bill of Rights, he said the following: “Ontario's EBR provides the public with a different but comparable set of legal rights.“ You can take that to the bank, because it is in writing.
After the commissioner had stated that those rights were similar to the ones provided by the bill we are studying, colleagues from the opposition asked him questions about that. In fact, the commissioner said that he was just making some general comments, because, in reality, things were very different. When it came down to it, he recognized that the federal bill was much less clearly structured than the Ontario charter.
That is why it is important for us to take the time we need to study the bill clause by clause. It is not a question of filibustering.
I would also remind Mr. Ouellet that parliamentary committees are structured so that all members have equal weight in representing their fellow citizens. Yes, there are party lines, but I think it is just as important, extremely important, in fact, for all members to be able to have their say. That does not mean that every member is going to have something to say on every clause, but they must have the right to do so. It may also be the case that two members of the same party may have different concerns.
Thank you.