Thanks, Chair, I appreciate the chance. I wasn't expecting to speak today. It's always good to get my oar in the water, and it's nice to be back after a bit of a rest and reflection and determining whether or not we're doing the right thing here. I have to tell you that was a short reflection, because absolutely we're doing the right thing here. There's no doubt about that. I was able to put that to rest.
I know you were hanging off every single syllable, Chair, so you'll recall readily that during part of my time the other day I was reflecting on some of the comments that were coming out as I was trying to analyze what the government's strategy was. You'll recall that my sense of it was that they thought by pulling the nuclear pin and making us go 24-7 on the Tuesday, knowing that the budget on the Wednesday was going to attract all the attention and would probably spill over to Thursday.... The government's calculation, we think, was that by the time the media refocused away from the budget and back on what was happening here in this room, public opinion would begin to turn against us, and the media would be reflecting a message that the opposition is being obstructionist.
As we all know, in a pluralistic democracy, public opinion is the most powerful force there is. I think the government's calculation was that, having forced us to do 24-7 staffing of the microphones, and with a message from the media that the opposition was being obstructionist, by the end of that week our filibuster would be starting to fall apart. There would be some reticence on the part of our caucuses, which would find its way to us, as their representatives on this committee, and then hocus-pocus, lo and behold, by the Monday the filibuster would just crumble, collapsing on its own weight—imploding, if you will—thereby allowing the government the freedom to move ahead and make any changes they want, willy-nilly, with their majority vote, regardless of what the united opinion of the opposition benches might be.
I was taking the time, Chair, to explain how I thought the government saw this. It's hard to figure out how they saw this as a win, but that's the only thing I can assume. Then you allowed me the opportunity to build my case that the strategy failed. I was pointing out why it failed and how it failed, and I was leading off with some of the most important opinion-makers and leaders in the nation, not the least of which would be, of course, the editorial board of The Globe and Mail, the national paper of record, and the Toronto Star editorial, which oftentimes find itself aligned with the Liberals, not always, as we've benefited from their endorsement from time to time, but for the most part, they've been quite friendly with the Libs.
I read what you can only describe as a scathing editorial in the Toronto Star, which, in addition to being a friend, of course, has the largest circulation of any newspaper in the entire country. It was just scathing. I didn't think anything would match The Globe and Mail. Normally, they're pretty staid and calm. Wow. I could go back and reflect on those, but I think people remember clearly. The Toronto Star was just as hard, and the words that they went out of their way to use again put the political lie to the government's argument that this is all about efficiency and improvement and that all their motivations are truly altruistic.
In doing that, I didn't use all the material I had—it was such a slam-dunk case—and the next thing I wanted to do was to focus on a highly respected columnist and opinion leader in Canada, Mr. Lawrence Martin. That would be the article there, Mr. Chair.
This is new, by the way. I know you like new, remember? I was using old stuff before, but now I have new news, fresh new. Although it's a week old, it's fresh to us and it's fresh to you. It keeps me out of trouble. That's the important part.
It's interesting. Again, he's a columnist with The Globe and Mail, again, not a publication known for over-the-top vitriolic. Mr. Martin weighed in. Again, he was one of those who was keeping an eye on what's happening here even though there was a slight distraction.