Mr. Speaker, I listened very carefully to the impassioned presentations of the member opposite and to his colleagues. I also listened at great length to one of my colleagues who is trying to sway my decision to vote on this bill.
My position to vote in favour of the bill and support the government's position is based on my fundamental belief in the words of one of the architects of the American Constitution, Thomas Paine, who was an adviser to Thomas Jefferson. His words were that every generation has the right and the responsibility to govern for its own times and should not bind future generations any more than this generation should be bound by past generations. As a matter of fact, that was one reasons why I was so much against
the Charlottetown accord, because it bound the Constitution for all time because it required unanimity to change it.
It is the genius of the American Constitution: to change, to reflect the times.
I would ask my hon. friend opposite, given what I have just stated: the necessity of each generation to govern for its time, to have the right to do so, not to bind future generations or to be bound by past generations. The Legislative Assembly of Newfoundland and Labrador has passed this. There has been a referendum. We know it was a close one, but it was a much closer referendum that brought Newfoundland into Confederation in the first place. Those who say that it passed by a very few votes should have gotten off their butts and voted. Once a vote is done, it is done and you go on from there.
I would ask the hon. member if he would try to convince me, based on my principled position and respecting the position of the people who have already voted, how would he respond?