Mr. Speaker, I would like to seek a comment from the member particularly with respect to the matter of confidence.
I would like to reaffirm the interpretation the member gave to the standing orders. When considering an opposition day motion, for a decade now opposition day motions have not been procedurally speaking matters of confidence. A long time ago we changed the rules so that precisely what the Prime Minister is trying to create in the context of this opposition day motion would not occur. In days before that rule change, members would always vote according to which party they belonged to, which side of the House they belonged to because these motions were considered to be matters of confidence.
They are not matters of confidence and can only be made matters of confidence in two ways. First is by the leader of a party declaring it so and second is by the members of that party whose leader has declared it to be so abiding by that particular declaration.
I would like the hon. member's opinion on this. This is a perfect opportunity for members of the Liberal backbench to say “No, we are sorry Mr. Prime Minister but we think this should not be regarded as a matter of confidence”. It is not part of the government's platform. It is not part of the government's budget. It was not in the throne speech. It was not in all that which might be legitimate we argue might be a matter of confidence. It is an entirely separate issue on which parliament should render a judgment unhindered by the confidence convention.
I would join with the hon. member in calling upon Liberal backbenchers to seize this moment to make parliamentary history and say from here on in that we do not accept that these kinds of things will be needlessly made matters of confidence.