Mr. Speaker, hon. members know I do not believe in fighting.
At the outset I would like to congratulate the Bloc for using this opposition day in a constructive manner to put on the floor of this place an issue that really should be debated.
I said last week that I thought the opposition day was misused by the official opposition when in fact Canada is at war. If somebody wants to put an issue forward to discuss a vote, why not do it this way? Why not use the opposition day which is parliamentary tradition and put this issue to a vote instead of standing up and saying one thing in question period and doing another at a time when the opportunity presents itself to have an opposition day?
While I can say that I congratulate the Bloc, which is not something I would do often, for taking the opportunity to put forward this motion to allow for constructive debate, it would probably not be surprised to find I cannot support the motion as it stands. But I do support the concept of having debates in this place, particularly when it involves the three words we have heard in the media lately that really are foreign to this country. Canada at war. Those are the three words. I believe there is a show on CBC tomorrow evening. It is an astounding thing to think about in 1999.