Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to rise and speak to the motion before us concerning the appointment of the assistant deputy chair.
In the much vaunted Liberal red book the government indicated it would enact certain reforms to ensure the House functioned in a more democratic and open process. As part of that promise the Liberals said that two of the junior chairs or deputy chair positions would go to the opposition parties.
While in opposition the Liberals submitted a paper entitled "Reviving Parliamentary Democracy". This paper was signed onto by the chief government whip. One of the recommendations was that in order to enhance the independence of the Chair and in an effort to reduce the level of partisanship, two of the junior chair officers should be from the opposition side of the House.
Like so many other Liberal initiatives, it would appear to be a case of saying one thing while in opposition then doing nothing or another thing once in power. Like so many other Liberal promises, the commitment to enhancing democratic practice in the House of Commons will not be served by this motion to appoint both deputy chairs from the government side.
In particular the motion appointing the member for Madawaska-Victoria is as much an affront to the principles of fairness in this House as it is counterproductive to the goal of enhancing the independence of the Chair. It is on this point that I would like to elaborate for members in this Chamber.
There has been much comment lately about the chief government whip's intention to bring the Reform House leader before the Bar of the House on a charge of contempt of Parliament.
Given the hon. member's shortcomings as joint chair of the Standing Joint Committee on Official Languages, the motion to appoint the member for Madawaska-Victoria as assistant deputy chair can rightly be viewed by Reform MPs as contemptuous. As chair of the standing joint committee the member for Madawaska-Victoria-