Going back to this issue, the title of the article is “The Opportunities and Frustrations of Backbenchers”. What I find somewhat interesting about this article is that although it's written by Mr. Stanfield, he never actually served as a backbencher. In his 30 years of service, he was never a backbencher. He was a premier for many years, and he was also a party leader. He never actually served as a backbencher. Yet, being in the leadership position, he nonetheless presented a great opportunity to hear the concerns of backbenchers. On page 6 of the Canadian Parliamentary Review, he writes:
During my thirty years in politics I was on the receiving end of many complaints from unhappy backbenchers but perhaps never as many as during the early sixties when we held all but four seats in the Nova Scotia legislature. In such circumstances it is very difficult to convince backbenchers on the government side that they are of the slightest importance to the government or to the legislature. It was practically a fulltime job!
That's an interesting commentary. Sometimes the larger the minority, the more concerns you have with your own party. One of the great advantages that a party leader has is the ability to dole out great rewards, but there can only be so many cabinet ministers. There can only be so many parliamentary secretaries, and when those—