Mr. Speaker, I will take this opportunity to speak briefly to this point of order following the comments made by the Bloc Quebecois whip.
First of all, when I arrived here today, I found it to be a particularly sad day for parliament, for this institution to which we all belong. But as I listen to the speeches by members of all political parties, I am beginning to regain my enthusiasm and faith in our institution, because there is less and less talk of the confidence we have in the Speaker.
So far, we have been unanimous in our support of and our confidence in you as the Speaker. We are perhaps finally getting around to identifying more specifically the problem which has led to the debate today, which is one of administration.
I would hope that, particularly those who sit with you on the Board of Internal Economy, the board which you chair, are aware that it is one of the structures to which we turn to try to improve our institution, with human resources or additional funding to improve our services, so that we will be better able to serve our constituents and do our job as parliamentarians.
But we must recognize that the Chair itself cannot act unilaterally. As a servant of the House, the Speaker relies on us as parliamentarians to convey to him the values and the rules by which we wish to be guided and the way in which we wish this parliament to function.
I know we all sincerely want to be very respectful of one another and in doing so we are being respectful of the institution. I submit on the one hand, to repeat myself as I think it is important, the Speaker cannot unilaterally make changes.
I look forward to hearing more from my colleague from Verchères on this because I think we are finally getting to the crux of the issue here. There is a debate about an administrative issue, some would say a shortcoming. I do not think for any of us it is quite clear yet as to what it is.
If I could take a bit more time in case I do not get an opportunity to come back, I could offer a new perspective to the debate. While all of us are privileged from time to time to be asked to take on certain responsibilities, in my short tenure here I have had the opportunity to be associated with you, Mr. Speaker, and I respectfully submit even more importantly with the institution, in sharing with you the Chair which is so symbolic of this democratic institution. You as the guardian and the servant of this House as the chair occupant elected by all of us, by your peers, have never left any doubt as to your integrity, your fairness and in particular your deep love for this parliament.
In that former life, I worked closely with your associates, with the clerks, the men and women who work very closely with you and advise you and advise us. I went as religiously as I could to those morning meetings in 139-N. I have some very fond memories of those meetings. I saw the men and women who worked on our behalf through you to make this place run the way it does, as well as it does and as effectively and efficiently as it does. Certainly they talk to each other. I was there and heard about how this party wanting to do this and that party wanting to do that. Certainly they talk to each other but never, ever, in the three years or more I was associated with the Chair, did I ever see one instance or even the slightest indication that anything that was taken from one party would be shared with another party in the House. I am sure that was the case for many, many years before I came here and that will never change nor should it.
In closing, there was an offer made in the first intervention from the government's side by the House leader. He made the offer that we would welcome the opportunity, through whatever mechanism or agreement there might be among the House leaders and the parties, to discuss the issue and to find a resolution to that administrative problem, or perceived administrative problem at this time until I know more about it. I am confident that given the goodwill of the men and women here working on behalf of all Canadians, we can find a solution to that administrative challenge.