Some hon. members are saying that is not the problem, or the issue.
Yes it is, actually, because what we have before us today is a motion of non-confidence. This is not a debate about whether members ought to have additional privileges, whether there should be legislative counsels for each party. That is not what we are debating today. It ought to be, but it is not. What we have before us is a motion of non-confidence in our Speaker. That is what we are debating.
The duties of the Speaker of this House date back to the creation of the institution. We have taken our inspiration from the British tradition, dating back to at least 1376. At that time, the Speaker of the House of Commons was the spokesperson for the House to the Crown, as is our Speaker today.
A few days ago, Mr. Speaker, representatives of the various political parties accompanied you in presenting the engrossed Speech from the Throne to Her Excellency. This presentation of the throne speech is a highly symbolic gesture, and one which lets us know that you are indeed still the representative of this House to Her Majesty, and in the Canadian context, to Her Excellency the Governor General.
Upon taking up your post, you stated in this House that you were its servant, not its boss. That is true. You have powers that were vested in you by us all. You have powers that we have given you.
Moreover, our parliamentary traditions, in recent years at least, have changed the procedure for electing the Speaker of the House, precisely to increase the confidence that we all have in the Chair. Mr. Speaker, you were elected twice by your peers in this House, by secret ballot.
You are not the Speaker of the government, you are not the Speaker of the Liberal Party, nor are you the Speaker of the Reform Party or that of the Bloc Quebecois. You are the Speaker of us all. We all chose you. This is my position in this debate and I hope that I am reflecting the views of all those who sit here and who, after careful consideration, may decide to give you their unanimous support later on today.
Perhaps additional services could be provided to parliamentarians. Perhaps we, in this House, could decide to organize the legislative services differently, perhaps not. These are all important issues—