Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, it is my honour and pleasure to table three petitions identical in form and content. The total number of signatures on these petitions is 719 Canadians. They are mostly residents of the Coronach, Swift Current and Bengough districts in my riding.
The petitioners state that the Bloc Quebecois party is composed solely of members from one province. They also state that the Reform Party of Canada has only one less member in the House and represents constituencies in five provinces and is organized throughout Canada. They state that the rights of people residing in nine provinces and two territories cannot be adequately protected by the disloyal, one province Bloc Quebecois as Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition and that this is a travesty on the institution of Parliament.
The petitioners therefore call upon Parliament, in the interests of Canadian unity and parliamentary tradition and to protect the rights of all the people of Canada, to prevail upon the Speaker of the House of Commons to recognize the Reform Party of Canada as the Official Opposition during the remainder of the 35th Parliament.