Well, no surprises there, Mr. Speaker. As usual, members from the government side demonstrated their commitment to democracy in this place by rejecting a votable motion.
Just as shutting down an inquiry can be used as a way of protecting the government agenda, designating a bill or a motion non-votable is an effective way for the government to stop the advance of a measure that may be popular with the public but may not fit into the agenda of the government, the Liberal party line.
In this way the government is able to stop a popular bill from becoming law without having to go through the embarrassing process of voting against it. It is a shame that we do not have the opportunity to have public votes where our constituents can watch us cast our judgment on such issues.
An especially interesting aspect of this motion is that it would require a two-thirds majority rather than a simple 50% plus 1. While I am in favour of the general purpose of the motion, the two-thirds figure seems to have been chosen somewhat arbitrarily. It was possibly selected in order to make the motion effective against the present government, although I find it strange that a Bloc MP would have chosen this threshold.
Consider for a moment what would happen in this Parliament if the Bloc wanted to help the government shut down a commission of inquiry. With the present balance of power in this House, the Bloc and the government combined would not be able to shut down that inquiry without the support of at least one other member, which reduces the influence of the Bloc in that regard.
The second interesting aspect of the percentage chosen is the present insistence by the Bloc that the result of a 50% plus 1 vote in Quebec is decisive in terms of a sovereignty vote.
Yet it adopts a two-thirds requirement to disband a commission of inquiry; two-thirds to disband a commission of inquiry, 50% plus one to disband the country.
That having been said, as I indicated at the beginning of this speech, I am in favour of the general thrust of the motion. The appropriate percentage vote is certainly up for discussion.