Yes, I have learned the truth. We are the leaders of the country. That is the truth and I make no apologies for it. This is a very noble profession and outside of being called to represent one's fellow people in religious offices it is the highest calling in the land. This is what I believe.
Mr. John Diefenbaker, I happen to think, was a great Canadian. He was not of my party but a great Canadian nonetheless. I met him on many occasions as a staffer on the Hill. He said it well when he said that there was in his view no greater honour and no greater privilege, and let us not forget the second part, than to serve in the House. I believe that to be true.
I also believe the House should be designed and should function in such a way as to attract people from all across the country and all walks of life. A doctor should be able to be a MP. Some are. People from the agricultural community should be MPs. Some are. People from finance and people from the teaching profession should be able to be MPs. Yes, a busboy in the parliamentary restaurant should also aspire some day to be a member of parliament, and one did. As a matter of fact I believe I am the only servant of the House of Commons ever to have been elected in the history of Canada. That is okay. Every Canadian should be able to aspire to come here. That is a principle of democracy.
One of my pet hobbies is the study of history. The great Reform Act of 1832 in Great Britain talked about the shortcomings of democracy in Britain at the time. Let me summarize what the two main ones were. One was that the franchise was too small. Not enough people in Britain had the right to vote. That was undemocratic. It had to be widened so people could participate. A second thing was wrong at the time. Daniel Patrick O'Connell, the liberator of Ireland, had been elected to the British House of Commons, the first Roman Catholic ever to get there. The only reason he got there was that he was rich. No one else could. Members of parliament were not paid.
The second element of the great Reform Act that is important to me and that I want to bring to the attention of the House is that people were demonstrating for their members of parliament to have a salary so that people like themselves could serve in the highest court of their land, the parliament of their country. I am proud that I am able to do that in this country in spite of the fact that I am not rich and probably never will be. I am proud of the fact that people who are rich can also be here along with me, all of us together.
I agree with the articles that say that one does not come here in order to get rich. That is true. However one does not come here to come out of here broke as so many people have. That is not right. Both those propositions are wrong.
There is a middle ground we should all believe in even if sometimes we have to take a bit of heat when we go in front of the media. I will do that because I believe that it is right. I recommend the bill to the House of Commons.
Mr. Speaker, I thank you and all my colleagues in the House of Commons. As this is perhaps the last bill I will be introducing before the summer recess, I would also like to thank my colleagues, particularly the House leaders of the other parties for their support during the session. Together, we have all contributed to the operation of what Mr. Diefenbaker called the highest court in our land, the Parliament of Canada.