Mr. Speaker, it is a sad day for parliamentary democracy, in my opinion, when certain members choose to launch a personal attack on someone whom I believe to be worthy of the confidence of everyone in this House. The member for Madawaska-Victoria has a most distinguished career to her credit, both politically and personally.
She has studied at l'Université de Moncton and l'Université Laval and holds both a bachelor's and a master's degree. She has rendered distinguished service as deputy speaker of the legislature in her home province of New Brunswick, bringing the wealth of that experience with her to this House when she was elected to it. Furthermore, she has been a member of the New Brunswick chapter of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and has acquitted herself in a distinguished manner during several missions as an election observer. I believe that her outstanding contributions should make all of us parliamentarians proud to have someone of the calibre of the hon. member for Madawaska-Victoria as a colleague.
It is rather sad to see something like this happening. Certain members of the Reform Party have every right to say that a government could have made a promise, ought to have, or whatever. It is certain that the government, as it has indicated today in the speech from the throne, has already fulfilled close to 75 per cent of its commitments by this mid-point in its mandate, with more yet to come. The House leader also brought to our attention today the government's readiness to refer the matter to a parliamentary committee. He made that same offer, moreover, a little earlier on, when speaking about another appointment.
It is now obvious that this was not what the Reformers wanted. Some of them, in fact, have indicated that what they had in mind was not referring the matter to a parliamentary committee-since that was what the House leader was offering to do-but rather attacking a subsequent appointment, choosing as their victim not only another colleague in the House, not only the only woman among the four nominees, not only a member of a francophone minority community, but also a distinguished parliamentarian, one with experience in the Chair and in a legislative assembly. Let them go ahead and do so. The people of Canada will judge them for their actions.