Mr. Speaker, here we go once again on an issue that is very similar in nature to other issues that have been brought before you over the past five and a half years I have been in this House. I can refer to the many times we have stood in the House and talked about ministers making announcements outside of the House with no consideration given to this side or in many cases even to the government side. Statements have been made through press releases in other countries when the House of Commons had not even dealt with the issue. We recently referred one of those cases to the board of internal economy.
The rights of members in the House are being ignored on a consistent basis. I watched the Prime Minister come in today and make an announcement that is critical to our country. Yet members of the House are virtually not part of it, as was mentioned earlier. Now we see a minister's department working with the Liberal caucus making press announcements.
I would ask that Mr. Speaker take all this in the larger context this time and perhaps look at the possibility of a legislative committee or some other process that actually steps aside and looks at the rights and privileges of members of parliament and how they are in effect being eroded by ministers, and even now the Prime Minister, completely ignoring us in this House.
It will only get worse. We can step up the heat on this and make things bad for the other side I suppose but it is time now that Mr. Speaker looked at this on a global basis and maybe took another approach to it and set some better standards in the House so as not to degradate what we have here.