Mr. Speaker, one notes that when the members from the Bloc talk about legitimacy they get very sensitive about the issue. I think it is because they feel quite sensitive themselves about being here and wondering about the legitimacy of why they are here in the first place or how they can stay here.
I believe I talked about this earlier on this evening. There is a need sometimes for the house of sober second thought, as the other Chamber is currently considered at this point in time. I have reasons for saying that. Let us take a look at a couple of situations.
A couple of years ago the GST created a furore in this House. The prime minister of the day used his majority to ram that legislation through this House before sending it down the hall to the other House for the sober second thought. The opposition party had the majority down there at that time. There was tremendous animosity around the country and this hated tax was not to be introduced.
The prime minister of the day used a very small quirk of the Constitution which had never been used before to change the majority down the hall to guarantee passage of his hated legislation. If that had been an elected Chamber, a Chamber where all the regions were properly represented and could not be tampered with by the prime minister of the day then or today, we would not have to tell Canadians that we would scrap the GST. The Deputy Prime Minister would not have had to put her seat on the line because she would not have had to make an election promise that she would scrap the GST. There is a very real reason for that House.
The other reason, as I said, is that sometimes we get a little headstrong in here and sometimes we get carried away. No better example is down the road in the province of Quebec, in the city of Quebec and the legislature of Quebec where the premier of the day says: "I don't care about the rule of law. I don't care what the court says about whether my actions are legal or illegal or whether they are legitimate or illegitimate. I get what I want". We need a second House to ensure that democracy is protected in this country. Even if it only pops up every so many years it is very important.