Mr. Speaker, there are two points which must be clarified in the House.
The government House leader is incorrect in his assertion that the amendments may be an avenue to limit debate. The fact of the matter is that our amendment in and of itself is debatable, and that is what we want to do in the House. We want to debate the merits of the bill through our amendments.
Our amendment reflects a difference of opinion in the House, an alternative to be debated. I question the point of sending the bill to committee if the government is already showing its indifference to any other opinion but its own by shutting down debate.
Furthermore, the government House leader indicated today that adequate and reasonable notice was given to me in the House. As it happened, yesterday I was at a meeting of the Board of Internal Economy. I was called outside the door and given notice that he was on his way downstairs to give notice to the House. I hardly call that adequate and reasonable notice in this day and age of democracy.