As am I. I'll have to carve this in my gravestone or something.
You made a really interesting point about political culture being at the nub of the problem here. I think you're right. I think we have a political culture that assumes majority governments; it's used to majority governments; it expects certain kinds of actions and defines decisive leadership on the basis of what a majority government would produce.
I have a couple of recent examples. I get letters every so often from constituents who say: “You guys have been the government now for several years. Why haven't you passed your legislation getting rid of the long-gun registry? You say you support that; I'm beginning to doubt your sincerity.” I have to write back and say, “I am supportive, and so is the government, but the majority of Parliament isn't, and that's the way the system works.”
I had something similar occur recently, when someone who was quite conversant in the political system wrote to me and said: “What's up? Why did you let that piece of legislation go through the House of Commons about making Supreme Court justices bilingual?” I had to point out that the majority in the present House of Commons wanted it and that all the Conservatives there voted against it; that it's not actually something we're supporting, but that this is what happens when you have a minority government.
This is not really something that we as politicians can make happen. It's a broader question.
What would lead us around, or is there anything that will lead us around, to having a change in our political culture and in the expectations we have of our politicians, be they opposition or government MPs?