Mr. Speaker, in January 1993 the Liberals wrote a document while in opposition entitled "Reviving Parliamentary Democracy: The Liberal plan for House of Commons reform". Two of the authors were the minister of public works and the present whip.
Liberals should listen. Mr. Speaker, this is what they said about your position: "In order to enhance the independence of the Chair and in an effort to reduce the level of partisanship, when the Speaker is from the government party, two of the junior chair officers should be from the opposition so that the four presiding officer positions are shared equally between the government and the opposition".
The current deputy and assistant Speakers are Liberals. The partisan nature of their appointments is in contradiction to Liberal promises. It makes me wonder: Is the government really interested in the broad Canadian agenda of parliamentary reform? I do not think so. The proof is in the pudding. They are intent on mouthing promises they have no intention of keeping.