Mr. Speaker, I needed a little break to confirm something else as well.
Here we are wanting to deal with the estimates today. We understand that the House may possibly not sit next week. We do not know.
I think the overriding issue here is something that the government forgot once again. That is that we are sick and tired of talking to the wall. We have brought this up numerous times. All we ask for in this House in opposition from all parties is just a tad, a little bit of respect. Listen to what we are saying. It may not go through and the government may not buy what we are saying, but at least people listening or people watching CPAC can at least understand that there are two, three, possibly four different positions on any subject in this House.
Without the government sitting on the other side, it is darn difficult to get a decent debate and a decent hearing on any issue. Why is that so hard to understand? With some 150 members over there, why is it so hard for them to understand that all we ask for is quorum in this House? Quorum in the House of Commons. Twenty people, 20 bodies out of 301. Why is that so hard to get? Quorum in any other organization is usually 50% plus one. Yet the government cannot manage to sit enough people across the House and even on some days as yesterday, there is nobody. Do the Liberals understand how people in all the parties across here feel when there is nobody sitting on the other side?
What do we get to do about it? We cannot say there are no members there, that there is no one sitting there. The Speaker does not allow it. Somehow we in opposition have to show the frustration and that is all. One member over there is counting the heads over here. Quite frankly, there are more opposition members in this House right now than there are Liberals on the other side. Every day is like that and that is fact.
We have drawn the line. Henceforth that will not occur in this House. Henceforth we will be drawing up unanimous consent motions such as this one. Henceforth this government is going to go through the mill on this issue. When it gets lazy again and when it misses its shot at trying to watchdog what is going on over here, it will find we are going to deal with it. I wonder what the people watching this today think.
I heard someone say they have an idiot standing here talking.