Mr. Speaker, since these are probably the last remarks in today's debate, I must thank the member for Saint John and the Progressive Conservative Party for raising this issue on opposition day.
The motion is broad, but at the same time very clever; it is unifying in that it brings together all the opposition parties, but also picks up the text of a resolution adopted by the Liberal Party at its convention, and introduced by the Maritimes Liberal Association. I find this very clever, because it forces Liberal members to ask themselves a very serious question.
There seems to be two different concepts of democracy. In a dictatorship, people are told “Do as you are told and keep quiet. You do not have the right to speak up”. A modern version of this, the Liberal version, highlights the role of the grassroots members at a convention, but it means nothing because their voice is ignored. Would the member agree?