Well, I'm just going to speak very briefly.
I'm pleased to hear, Mr. Chair, that the Conservatives are willing to make up for the mistakes they've made over the past few weeks in terms of MPs' expenses. We were mandated by the House of Commons in June, and then the Conservatives prorogued the House, and now we've come back and we have a motion that I certainly consider frivolous. It doesn't advance in any way the work of the House, and it is actually very detrimental to the rights of independent members or members who are not part of a recognized party. So after all these delays now, I'm happy to hear that the Conservatives are actually going to start repairing what they've broken and allow for additional meetings so we can finally start tackling MPs' expenses.
Mr. Chair, as you are well aware, this never needed to happen. We could have been meeting; we haven't been. We finally get together and we have this motion from Mr. Reid, which brings no benefit and simply forces independent members into a very difficult situation. I'm very pleased to hear that the Conservatives will be allowing us to double up the meetings. We have an important study to do and we have to complete it by December 2. I think the groans you heard from this side make very clear that we do not want to extend that date. Canadians expect us to meet that date, and the House of Commons has mandated us to meet that date. That will mean having additional meetings. We might have to work evenings. We're happy to do that because Canadians expect us to.
My final comments are just in regard to this motion from Mr. Reid. We heard last week from the clerk that what this does is destroy the report stage rights of independents and members who don't belong to a recognized party. The attempt of the government is to suppress those rights. I find it despicable. I will be voting against this. There is no way to justify this motion that is simply designed to eliminate the rights of some members of Parliament. Quite frankly, Mr. Chair, the reality is that every member in the House of Commons was elected by their constituents, their voters in their riding. They have the right to present amendments. This takes this ability of independent members and non-recognized party members away at the report stage. I find it deplorable that the government would move to oppress those rights.