Mr. Speaker, I move that the 70th report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs presented on Tuesday, April 20, 1999, be concurred in.
It is a pleasure to rise and debate the 70th report of the procedure and House affairs committee. Those who have been watching regularly on television and our regular attenders in the House realize what is happening. They realize we are debating a report from committee for quite a few reasons.
I would like to go through some of the reasons committee work, the important work of committees, needs to be highlighted during motions under Routine Proceedings. The Reform Party has been highlighting the issue for several days to point out to the government some of the failings in the democratic system and in the parliamentary system.
Why do we need to debate this committee report? I would argue that committees demand a great deal of time, money and energy from both members of parliament and from parliament itself. Yet the reports are largely ignored.
If we just take its number, it is the 70th report of the procedure and House affairs committee. It has been tabled in the House, expecting a response from the government. As is often the case, it will be ignored. There will be no earth shattering changes made to the system. There will not be a response from the government.
By and large, especially on reports from committees, the government seems to take them as something tabled at the clerk's table which goes into never-never land, never to be seen again.
A couple of examples come to mind right off the bat. I remember a unanimous report that was brought forward by the natural resources committee back in the days when I was on that committee. It was called Keep Mining Off the Rocks . All parties agreed to it. They came forward and made about a dozen recommendations to the government. We brought it forward to the House and tabled it. Guess what? Not one of those recommendations was followed up on.
Members of all parties on that committee did all that work. They heard all the witnesses. There were all the expenses and all the time spent, the give and take. It was the best of democracy, we would think. The voice of Canadians was represented in the committee. They did detailed work and brought forward a report. It was given to the government with a plea from all parties, Liberal, Bloc, NDP, Reform and so on. It was laid before the House and not one of the recommendations made it into government policy or even, it seems, got a response from the government.
Another example is the recent 48th report—