Absolutely. That's one of the reasons why I was glad that there was an amendment to move.
What just happened actually proves my point. Again, you'll never see me deny members the opportunity to stand or to sit in their place and raise a hand on a point of order. I won't discourage it because that's all part of the process and I respect the process. Relevancy is critically important too, and that's why I highlighted the fact, in my few minutes that I already had to talk, that if any member feels that I'm getting a little too far off, you won't offend me by rising on a point of order and expressing why it is you think I'm not being relevant. I'll be more than happy to make that direct link because I don't want, in any fashion, Madam Chair, to be irrelevant to what I think is a very important discussion that we are having.
It was interesting, Madam Chair. As you had initially interrupted you made reference to the motion itself, and to the amendment. I actually have it right in front of me. At some point I was figuring that I would take the time to read through it—not right now, because I don't think it's necessary. But we will get to that point where I'll want to do that and especially if it's deemed necessary for me to try to make some sort of a connection.
What we're really talking about is process. We have an amendment before us that was trying to get something sped through or set through a time so that this bill would in fact be reported. I wanted to be able to talk about process and the importance of it. I think far too often legislators, or parliamentarians, take things for granted. I think that is a big mistake because when we take things for granted, quite often you'll see some individuals might choose to abuse or look for ways around the system, or even possibly the rules, or use the rules in certain ways that would limit people from being able to participate.
I want to give a few examples of that, Madam Chair. I had my assistant, just a few hours back, go and do a quick search in terms of bills and time allocation. Members of the committee will be very much aware of to what degree I've had the opportunity to stand up inside the House and talk about the time allocations. Time allocations are all about process, and that's what it is that we're talking about here.
We're talking about trying to set something into the calendar, and it's very important for us to recognize the role that the calendar plays in all of our lives in a very profound way. There is a huge difference, for example, when we are in session versus outside of session. When we have roughly nine months of the year that the House is actually sitting, there are typically three weeks of that month where there is an expectation that members of Parliament would be here in Ottawa. That other week is not a week off, as I'm often reminded.
I know that members across the way or on this side of the committee room use that opportunity to be able to connect with their constituents, for the most part. I know I do. Whenever I get the opportunity, I want to be able to connect with the residents of Winnipeg North. I appreciate the trust that they've given me, and I hope to be able to perform to the degree to which they will appreciate my efforts, and ultimately assist me in re-election.
When you are in session, the expectation is that there's a legislative agenda, and that's what this bill is really all about, part of the legislative agenda—in a very unique way, I must say. If you take a look at the amount of time that's being dedicated to this particular piece of legislation, especially in terms of committee time, I suspect—and Mr. Shory might even have a better sense of it because it's his private member's bill—that there are very few private members' bills that get as much attention as this particular bill has been able to get.
Now one could speculate, and I'd like to speculate as to why that is. But before I do, I want to continue along the line of this whole process. We talk about “in session”, “out of session”. We talk about the importance, while we're in session, of what we're doing and how the calendar actually works. What we're really talking about is the government House leader working in cooperation with the opposition parties' House leaders in trying to come up with a timely agenda, so that both the government's agenda and the opposition's agenda can actually be met. There's a balancing—