Whether in this case or in the case of some previous controversial prorogations, I think part of the idea for this change in the Standing Orders in the last Parliament was to create a forum for Canadians to get some satisfaction when there are doubts about whether prorogation is really in the public's interest or whether it is in the government's own political interests.
Earlier I heard—and I'm sure you heard the same—the government House leader say that we are from different parties, we have different takes on it, and we'll have to agree to disagree. I don't think anybody would have found that to be a satisfactory answer in the case of the 2008-09 prorogation when Prime Minister Harper prorogued Parliament to avoid a confidence vote.
If the result of this exercise is that we just accept that there are different points of view depending on what your party is and we don't have anything concrete to say about the circumstances of prorogation and the obvious political effects that they have, that will be a disappointment. It seems to me that having the legislature more involved in decisions about prorogation at the front end and evaluating government responses at the front end would do more to mitigate these apparently intractable disputes.
I'm wondering if you have any reflections on that, given your experience in government. I know it is the PCO's job to defend the existing prerogatives of the Queen, but I also know that those prerogatives have changed in different ways over the years. I'm wondering if you have any reflections for us on how that convention might change in this regard in order to try to avoid these kinds of intractable disputes post-prorogation and to have a more constructive process to build consensus around the need for a prorogation.