He did not scurry or crawl but he did make an exit. Maybe he will come back in again after he has a bowl of soup or something.
I want to raise this very serious question because this bill originated in the other place. In the last poll I have seen, the other place has the support of about 5% of the Canadian people. Five per cent of the Canadian people support the existing Senate, support the structure of the other place.
There is a great debate in the country as to whether or not it should be abolished or reformed. Of the remaining 95% of the Canadian people, they are roughly divided equally between reforming the other place and electing it in some way, and just abolishing it and getting rid of it. That is the debate.
It seems very strange that the government across the way would originate a bill in a place that is not elected, not accountable and has the support of 5% of the Canadian people. I do not know another democracy in the world that would legitimize the other place by originating a bill in the other place when it is not elected.
We are not talking about a board, or a commission or an agency. We are talking about a legislative body that can initiate legislation to change the laws of the country. I think that is a serious democratic issue in a modern-day parliamentary democracy.
Mr. Speaker, I see you sitting in your chair looking pretty sad yourself when you start reflecting on the state of democracy in the country. I am also pretty sad to see the government doing this time and time again.
The Canadian people do not support that institution. Ninety-five per cent of Canadians are saying that they do not support the existing institution of the Senate. Yet the government time and time again will go there to initiate legislation. That is fundamentally wrong. I would like to see government members stand up and defend why they do this.
There is one minister in the House now who is listening very carefully to this debate. We have time this afternoon for him to get up and respond as to why they insist on doing this. The time has come for us to have a serious debate about electoral and parliamentary democracy and how to make this institution more meaningful.
I knew the government House leader many years ago. I remember in 1968 when I was first elected he was working in the House. The turnout in that election campaign was about 80% of the population. In the last election campaign it went down to about 67%. More and more people are giving up on the electoral system. They are losing confidence in the electoral system. More and more people are cynical of politicians and the political process.
One reason is that we have a legislative body that initiates legislation. It is not elected, not accountable and not democratic. We cannot get back at those people. If a Reform member from British Columbia or an NDP member from Regina does something people do not like, every three, four or five years the people can say no. I experienced that in 1993 when I lost the seat of Yorkton—Melville in Saskatchewan.
What can we do about a senator? There is nothing that can be done about someone in the other place, short of their being convicted for some serious criminal activity and being forced out by their colleagues. There was one who was living in Mexico for a long period of time. He had to resign under the pressure of public opinion. Short of that, there is no way of holding those people accountable and keeping their feet to the fire.
There are members in the other place who do not live in their home provinces and hardly ever go back to them. They do not go to meet their people. Some of them have even lived outside of the country. They draw a salary and expenses roughly equivalent to those of a member of parliament. They travel the world. People think they are like American senators so the red carpet is rolled out for them. That is the kind of institution we tolerate. We spend $50 million a year of taxpayers' money funding the other place.
Think of the homeless people under a bridge a few blocks from Parliament Hill who could use a few thousand dollars for public housing. Think of the money we could put into training and skills to put people to work. Think of the farmers we talked about in question period today who are now on a suicide watch because they do not have money to pay their bills. Yet we pay those people in the other place, who have no obligations whatsoever in terms of accountability, $50 million. And the government across the way initiates legislation in the other place.
I hope the government House leader will rise to his feet and explain to us how in the name of modern democracy he can tolerate such a situation. I can say that the Canadian people do not tolerate it. Only 5% of them support the other place, yet we have a government that ignores the wishes of 95% of the Canadian people. My oh my, once in power how they change their minds and how they change their hearts.
I hope the minister across the way will answer the questions on behalf of the people of this country.