Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Winnipeg St. James for his comments. My colleague followed the proper procedure. He was not grandstanding, which is proven by the fact that the House gave unanimous consent. Members of the Liberal party supported what he was trying to do. Unanimous consent is the consent of the NDP, Bloc, Liberal and Reform. All agreed that the Senate should be held more accountable. The member for Comox-Alberni met in a very respectable way with Senator Kenney to request that type of co-operation, and they thumbed their noses at a very responsible approach.
The member mentioned the Charlottetown accord and said that Reform refused its opportunity to support Senate reform. He must have a very short memory. He probably does not recall some of the changes called for in the Charlottetown accord regarding the Senate. It was actually kind of a racist approach to Senate reform. If I remember correctly, Senate seats were based on heritage, ethnic origin. There had to be so many francophone senators and
the majority of them had to vote for legislation that affected language and culture. Talk about pulling scabs off wounds inflicted hundreds of years ago.
Anyone who supported the Charlottetown accord and the type of Senate reform that it was calling for would have done a terrible disservice to Canada. Canadians supported Reform's opposition to the Charlottetown accord by voting against it and by voting against the judgment of the Liberals and Conservatives who tried to impose this terrible piece of legislation on Canadians.
I applaud Canadians. I am very disappointed in the member for suggesting that anyone should stoop to supporting to Charlottetown accord.