Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to respond to the hon. member. I know he was listening attentively to what I was saying, otherwise he surely would not have asked the question or raised the point.
We brought the Nisga'a bill to the House and it has now been debated on at least two separate occasions, if not three. Let us consider what the Reform Party did. It amended the motion by asking the House to withdraw the bill, and then it amended that motion to allow members to filibuster another time. This was an effort by the Reform Party to filibuster the bill.
When I proposed on the floor of the House two days ago to extend the hours of sitting to listen to more Reform members' excellent speeches on the Nisga'a agreement, members of the Reform Party turned it down. They did not want more debate on Nisga'a. They turned it down. It is not that they want more debate; it is that they want the bill delayed and they want to punish Canadians.