Mr. Chair, in a committee, every member has the right to speak, but we have always allocated floor time by taking into consideration the political parties present. I don't need Pierre Poilievre's generosity. The voters are the ones who elected me. The purpose of a committee, when we ask questions or conduct studies, is to make sure that all political parties are duly represented, that they have the opportunity to share their perspective and to contribute to the proceedings based on their values and platform. You know how politics work. Everyone provides their point of view. It's not a matter of being generous, but of respecting British parliamentary traditions.
Regarding the first question, there has always been the official opposition and the second largest opposition party. We may want to resolve this situation now and ensure that every political party has the right to speak. The parties will then have to be able to assert that right, in consideration of the fact that the weight of representativity varies, regardless of the government.
You're too young to have witnessed this, Jeff, but when we were in power, we were generous. It wasn't much use, since we succeed in working together anyway. In the committee, we must be watchful and ensure that we do a good job. However, if the work is not being done, it can turn... I don't want to use any bad words, so as not to get the interpreters worked up. You may notice that I sometimes use my own expressions.
I just want to make sure that things work properly, Mr. Chair. I am familiar with your wisdom and your way of doing things. You have my full support, but I think that we also need to be respectful and ensure that every party gets to speak. We represent a percentage of the vote, a political party. Therefore, we have to strike a certain balance. I don't want to hear about generosity, since I have the floor in the first round anyway. Let's make sure that everyone gets to speak. Every political party should have that right. We're not here because of charity. Regardless of the number of MPs, all the political parties had the right to speak in every committee I sat on. Let's work towards that. We will vote without any problems.
Let's start with the official opposition and then move on to the second largest opposition party. After that, the government can ask its questions. In addition, if the government wants to have the floor twice in a row, I don't care, but that should be clear from the outset. The same goes for the second and third rounds.