I just want to add something here. I know Ms. May has spoken about this often, that we'd be better off if we didn't have parties, but with all due respect to Ms. May, I find it disrespectful. Each one of the parties has the opportunity to develop its own policies and positions. I wasn't a big-P partisan before. Frankly, I joined the NDP to vote for Jack Layton as leader—I have no regrets—and then eventually I decided to run, for various reasons that I made very public.
I think there's a lot of good work done in parties. The wonderful thing about my party—and I presume the other parties are the same—is that the positions I take come from the grassroots. By having a party behind you, you have people across the country who are helping you develop your policies. You have people you can turn to.
I think there's lots of good work done on this Hill. Mr. Doherty talked about a lot of good work done in committees, across party lines. We need to remember that. That was one good reason why we decided not to have parliamentary secretaries on committees, because a committee is supposed to represent the views of the individual members. You are there on your own and you're expressing your view.
As much as I'm a very small-p partisan, and we get very upset sometimes when things become partisan, I think we need to remember that there is a lot of value in those parties. Our members would be horrified at the suggestion that their views aren't valued. Certainly in my party, our policies come from the grassroots.