Understood, but my point is that it may happen again in the remainder of the debate, so I want to make sure my name is there for those opportunities. I may or may not use it. It's there. Thank you for that.
I have a few different things in terms of thoughts here. The main principle for me is certainly the idea that we're talking about a Standing Orders change that is being proposed, to be done essentially by.... Notwithstanding the fact that I guess Ms. Blaney feels that some notice was given to others, I was not aware of it. I don't believe that any of my colleagues sitting here as part of the official opposition were aware of it prior to this morning. We are talking about changes to the Standing Orders here, without a lot of time to consider them and, obviously and more importantly, without time for those who are not here to consider them.
The Standing Orders of course impact all members of Parliament. Given that, what we're talking about is something that essentially impacts their abilities as members of Parliament, and on their rights, opportunities and privileges, without their having had that opportunity to have a say, both as individuals and then globally as caucuses and as parties. That was obviously something that both we and the previous member of the NDP who served on this committee in the last Parliament fought very hard for.
I would have to think that Ms. Blaney's former colleague, Mr. Christopherson, would be cringing right now at the thought that for something he fought so long and hard for his party is now prepared to just let that principle go. I would imagine that he would be significantly troubled by that, and rightfully so. We fought hard for that principle for a reason. It shouldn't be the right of the government, or of any one party or parties, to make those kinds of changes to the way this place functions without all parties having a chance to have a say on that and a chance to give their consent or their agreement to it.
I'll get into some other things here in a second before I continue with that argument, because we saw that play out a few different times in the last Parliament. We saw that play out when the government proposed to make changes to the Standing Orders. I want to talk a bit more about that history in a second, because I think it's good context for members, especially as I look around the table. There are some members of Parliament who were newly elected in the last election. They may not have had the benefit of the context of those discussions that took place in the last Parliament and of the lengthy meeting we had.
I see that Mr. Genuis is here. He was a very significant part of the lengthy conversations that occurred at that time. You and I, Madam Chair, were there for many hours of that debate. It did go on for many, many hours. If I recall correctly, the meeting began in about the middle of March and didn't conclude till the early part of May. It was a very lengthy discussion. As I said, I was there for many hours, as were you, Madam Chair. Mr. Genuis managed to keep us all entertained and informed for many hours on end on a couple of occasions during that debate. I know that many people were riveted by every word he had to say at that time. He may choose to have some input in this conversation today if one of his colleagues would choose to give him the opportunity to sub in. Who knows?
The point is that it was a principle we were fighting for: the idea that changes to the Standing Orders are not something that the Prime Minister's Office gets to make or that one party in Parliament gets to make. These are significant things. What we are talking about has an impact upon all the committees in this place. It has an impact upon all the members and all the caucuses. Therefore, they all need to have a chance to be a part of the conversation before that happens.
Ultimately, with those Standing Orders changes that were proposed then, that was in fact where we ended up after all that time, that this would be how things would happen, so the changes that were being proposed then didn't happen.
I want to come back to those in a minute or two because, again, I think that context is important.
Ms. Blaney referenced the electoral reform change that the government had promised in the 2015 election. The Liberal Party made a promise during the election that it was going to be the last election of first past the post. The NDP lost many supporters to the Liberal Party as a result of that promise. Of course, the Liberals then chose to break that promise, and she referenced that she was disappointed that had occurred.
You and I sat on the special committee that looked at electoral reform. I raise that because this was something that I think demonstrated the way these things should proceed, the way they should happen. In the conversation around electoral reform.... I'm not suggesting that in order to make this Standing Orders change there would need to be these kinds of things, but what happened in the electoral reform special committee was that we travelled across the country and we heard from Canadians. We had extensive opportunity for Canadians to be heard. All parties put forward different viewpoints. The Liberals pulled a bait and switch, and what they held out to many people who came over from other parties to support them, like the NDP, was that they would....
Essentially many people believed—and I know candidates for the Liberal Party who explicitly indicated—that proportional representation or some form of that would be the result of that. Obviously the Prime Minister had different ideas. He wanted to do something that would benefit his party and his party alone and ensure that they essentially remain in power perpetually. Obviously there were a lot of people who were incredibly disappointed, who had gone over and supported his party for that reason and solely for that reason. That was the position of the Liberal Party, which they felt was appropriate and was something they could do.
I suspect that it probably has something to do with why Canadians knocked them from a majority to a minority government in this past election. There were other reasons, of course, and some of the ethical failings of the Prime Minister certainly were among those things. I would assume that the lack of fiscal responsibility that the government showed was, for other Canadians, probably a significant part in their being knocked from a majority to a minority. Certainly some people, particularly the NDP supporters who came over to the Liberal Party in that election, probably came over for that reason and were quite sadly disappointed.
Of course the NDP continued, as did the Green Party, to have the opportunity to be a part of that. The Green Party did have a member on that committee at the time, and that was again because of the uniqueness of what was being proposed and discussed there.
I see members are reacting to the numerous binders that Mr. Genuis was just handed. That would be reminiscent for some people of those days that I was just referring to. I remember one of my other colleagues, Mr. Kmiec, coming in with boxes of papers and things.
I also recall I had two backpacks at the time, much like—I don't know if I'm allowed to use props at committees—the one I have today. I had two about that size and they were full of emails that I had received from Canadians. That's how many people were emailing to express their disappointment with the fact that the government was trying to move forward with those kinds of Standing Orders changes without giving them a say in it.
We were talking about some quite significant changes. There was talk about changes so that there would be only a four-day work week here in Parliament. There was talk about changes so that the Prime Minister would have to be here only one day a week to be held accountable, and about how there would be fewer question periods in which the government would be held accountable. Canadians rightfully, seriously and strenuously objected to those changes. That's why I had those two backpacks full of emails.
I know that I spent, at one point, several hours reading from those emails so that Canadians were getting a direct say in the committee. I probably didn't even get through 10% of them.
In fact, I kept a backpack as a kind of souvenir. The emails, when they were printed, weighed down one backpack so heavily they tore the strap right off. It spoke to the fact that Canadians were quite concerned about what was occurring.
I want to come back to what I was talking about, though, with the electoral reform committee. The NDP and the Green Party at that time were of the position that what the government had put forward was what they wanted to see, and....
Pardon me, I should say it was what the Liberal Party had put forward. It's very different, and I need to make that distinction. What the Liberal Party put forward during the 2015 election and what the government then put forward were two very different things. I should make that distinction. It's very clear, and it's very important that I make that distinction, because it is different. They believed that what should happen was what the Liberal Party, before becoming government, what Justin Trudeau's candidates led Canadians to believe was what they should move forward with. That was the principle that the NDP and the Green Party were fighting for at that time.
Of course, as Conservatives, we firmly believe that the electoral system does not belong to political parties or to politicians. It belongs to Canadians. We therefore very strongly stood for the principle that to make those kinds of changes, the decision should be made by Canadians themselves. It's their electoral system. We firmly pushed for the idea that a referendum be required in order to make those kinds of changes. A huge majority of Canadians were supportive of that. I think it had a lot to do with the reason the government chose not to proceed with their bait and switch proposal that they were going to try to ram through. What ultimately happened was that the committee...much like what we are suggesting should happen with the proposal that's been put forward today, first by Mr. Gerretsen and second by Ms. Blaney, by the Liberal Party and then the NDP Party, for an additional vice-chair, a third vice-chair—which, I will point out for the benefit of Canadians, does come with a pay raise. Some would argue that this might be the reason for the suggestion that it happen. I'll point out that....
Actually, I'll come back to that point in a minute. There is something that's important to point out, and it's one of the reasons I have some concern. The bottom line is that at that time, what happened is what should be happening with this kind of proposal with the Standing Orders, which is that some discussion should happen. When we are talking about making a change that impacts how Parliament operates, how the committees of Parliament operate, that impacts how things are done for Canadians. Those kinds of discussions need to happen. It shouldn't be a decision made by a dozen of us here on no notice, or very little notice, with some being new members to this Parliament and some being veteran members.
Having said all that, it is something that all members of all caucuses should be able to have some input on, whether that be through their whip, their House leader or through their caucus meetings. Obviously, that is what happened at that time with the changes to the Standing Orders, as I referenced earlier, and electoral reform. There ended up being a lot of discussion behind the scenes and amongst the parties. There ended up being opportunities for the caucuses. In fact, we formally made that indication, I think at least with the changes to the Standing Orders—I can't recall if it happened with electoral reform, but I believe it may have—where we all agreed that this was important enough that our caucuses should be consulted. We allowed time for that to happen. That obviously takes time. You can't just call....
In the case of our party, how many seats do we hold?