Madam Speaker, I was not expecting to take part in the debate because agriculture is an area of great expertise. I draw your attention to members opposite who have just asked me to sit down. I apparently in the opinion of some members opposite should not speak because I am not directly involved in agriculture.
One of the reasons I am speaking is that I have sat here for about an hour and a half listening to the debate, especially the comments from the opposite side. Among the things that have been said by those opposite is their suggestion that everyone on this side is a lawyer as if somehow that is something reprehensible and a reason for not commenting on legislation.
At the time that comment was made there were quite a number of Liberal MPs on this side of the House, and I have to say none of them were lawyers including myself.
Another thing I found reprehensible in the debate coming from the other side was the suggestion from one member of the Reform Party that because MPs may not be from the west, may not be from the prairies and may not be directly associated with farmers growing wheat, they somehow had no right to participate in a debate on the bill. It is certainly true that I am from central Ontario—