Thank you.
I thank the New Democratic members for allowing me to address the committee at this point.
Mr. Chairperson, I've had the opportunity to observe for the last little while the proceedings that have taken place here. I've had the opportunity to be able to get a sense in terms of what is actually taking place, and it would be nice to see it resolved in some fashion or another.
I recognize at the beginning that filibuster is a tactic. I've seen it used by all political parties at different levels. It usually occurs when there is something happening that just isn't quite right. I would suggest to you, Mr. Chairperson, that there are some very serious issues before us today.
I was very disappointed in the sense that I believe Mr. Cotler, the Liberal Party critic, was quite eager to continue today in going on with the clause-by-clause. I know that from the discussions, as he keeps our caucus quite up to date on what's taking place on this very important bill, and it has been an important bill and has been talked about a great deal.
It is a bill that has had a lot of issues surrounding it, but we have talked a great deal about it within our caucus, and we feel there is a need to ensure that there would be a thorough discussion once it got to the clause-by-clause portion of committee. I would have expected that Mr. Cotler would have been afforded the opportunity, as the Liberal Party critic, to be able to go through each clause and to assess them for what they are.
Before I get into the actual motion that has been suggested, I know that there has been some sensitivity in terms of the issue of relevancy in debating the motion, Mr. Chair--