That's the work that committees do. We engage in studies every day. All the committees that we have in Parliament engage in those discussions, but what we do here is call for votes. I get that it's a tactic. That's fine. Go ahead. Continue doing that. You have every right and no one is saying that will be taken away by having this discussion either.
However, I think most reasonable people who are watching, coming into this House would think, “Wow, if I called a motion, that I really wanted a vote on something, at least I should stand up and vote for that motion that I proposed.” What happened is that the Conservatives are proposing these motions and then voting against their very own motions. Does that seem reasonable? I think not. I think most Canadians would not see that as reasonable.
I understand that you might not want to see things change in certain areas. That's understandable. We can talk about that. The opposition needs to have some tools in their belt in order to feel as though they also have a valid place in this Parliament and they're able to make an impact. I understand that, but no one is talking about taking away every tool that they have. We've obviously seen parliaments from Scotland and Austria that don't allow for filibusters to go on endlessly. Maybe we could still allow for filibusters to happen, but we can still amend the rules. These are talks we can get into.
There are a lot of things that can happen but don't have to happen if you don't want them to happen in that way, but we can still talk about them. That's the thing. We are being stopped from even engaging in a substantive conversation about these things. Let's not just talk about them with each other; let's have expert people, expert witnesses come in and give us their feedback on what should be done and what doesn't work. I'm sure we're going to be able to find lots of experts who can talk about the role of oppositions and the crucial job they have, to have that input. We can bring people in to talk about that and how we need to maintain the integrity of the role of the opposition. Let's bring those people in and let's talk about that and figure out where we can find some changes yet make sure that we can still keep every member's role an important one in this House.
That's all I'd like to say for today. I think I've said more than I should and have taken more time than I should have taken, but I think it's important to put my feelings on the record as well.
I don't want to see this as being a retaliatory Parliament, where someone proposes and all the others oppose, but that we can work together. We've done it on some private members' bills and I think that's a good thing. I know sometimes, even in regard to that, some members will say that's not a good thing. I think it's a good thing. It shows that regardless what side of the aisle we're on, we're here to serve our constituents, listen to them, and convey their ideas in the House. However, we're also government members. I'm a government member on this side and I ran on a platform. I ran on many things and I'd like to see most of those happen so that I may run again one day. I know it's not your job to help me achieve those things, but as parliamentarians, it is our job to help this place work and function for Canadians. I believe that is what we're trying to do and we can better do that.
Thank you.