I just wanted to put on the record a reminder for all of us of the way it was done, too. That can't just be skirted over, especially since this is part of the process of law-making. It may not necessarily be the formal, main runway of making laws and the things that we normally deal with a lot, but it is part of the process. It speaks to the rights of ordinary members of Parliament, in this case members who don't belong to an official party.
I do take exception to Mr. Lukiwski's point of view that, you know, they used to have this right over here, and we're just moving it over here, no big deal. Well, I've got to tell you, I think it's a big deal when a member of Parliament has certain rights they're allowed to exercise on the floor of the House of Commons versus those rights being taken away in the House and transplanted to committee. To say that you have the equal right at committee that you once had at the House level just doesn't pass common sense. It doesn't pass the smell test.
In the whole House of Commons, the most important chamber in the whole nation, you have rights. Now they're going to be gone, and they've been sent to a committee. Committees are important, but not as important as the House.
It speaks to the process. This is a big deal. If the government didn't see it as a big deal, they should have. It was brought in here sort of willy-nilly. It was laid on the table as, oh, by the way, we have a motion while we're considering routine motions and routine business; we have a little something. Boom! It's a little something that changes the way we make laws and takes away rights that members have. That's not little, not where I come from.
I think it's been disappointing, the way the government has handled this. I think it's disappointing that we all find ourselves in a situation where we did agree to limit the discussion, not because of its lack of importance but because we do have other business and it is equally important. We obviously will be voting against it. We would on principle. Even if it was a good idea, just the way the government did it deserves to be condemned and voted against.
The last thing I want to say, Chair, is that I was, however, very pleased to hear Tom talk about the willingness to do a two-track process. I want to underscore the position of our caucus chair, Mr. Julian, that changing the December 2 date is not on. It will only, it can only, be viewed by the public as this: the politicians haven't yet figured out how they're going to make it look like they're giving something without really putting anything out in the public domain. That's what it's going to look like, and that's the opposite of the intent, I believe, of all member of the House.
Beside that, the issue of Mr. Bezan—I mean, that's huge. A prima facie case of privilege on the part of the Speaker? That's a big deal. It stops everything. Everything stops when the Speaker says he has found a prima facie case of privilege. So to suggest that this has to take a back seat to anything is equally unacceptable.
I was very pleased when my House leader mentioned the idea of a two-track process, because it's the only way to really do the proper business before us in a way that respects the priority of both of them. Don't change that December 2 deadline. Even if we have to work weekends and nights, don't do that. Get a second track going. Get it in there. It's going to take a lot of work.
We've been around this kind of thing before, Tom. You know the amount of time it takes. We need to make sure there is that time. But you can't push Mr. Bezan's issue back, so the only thing that makes any sense is that there be two tracks.
My colleagues collectively will call the shot on this today, but I have to say, Tom, that at least for me, that sounded very, very reasonable, and very doable, way of dealing with this motion, as unfortunate as it is that time is being limited. But having dealt with that, moving on to Madame Turmel's equally important motion, we also need to set up a process so that when we leave here today we all have the confidence that work on both the MPs' expenses file and the reference from the Speaker will start immediately, and that the two of them will move in parallel to meet timeframes that our colleagues in the House expect from this committee.
I will conclude again by lamenting and expressing concern at the government's view of democracy. I know it's a lot different. I've been here awhile. I was here when a lot of these government members were on this side of the House and this side of the committee and viewed this sort of thing a lot differently. It's simply part of the narrative that this government is laying down by virtue of its actions and its track record that it's one of the most undemocratic governments we've ever had in Canada. The evidence is piling up, not only in the House of Commons but, lo and behold, also down the hall in that other place.
You have the majority, and the government will win this vote, but understand, Mr. Chair, this won't be forgotten. This will not be swept under the carpet. There will be a day of reckoning. It's called an election, and at that time this government and every member in it will be held to account for its approach to democracy or, more importantly, their lack of respect for democracy.
Thanks, Mr. Chair.