Mr. Speaker, I would like to add some brief remarks as well. Being a member of the party that held the previous record, one of which we are not necessarily proud, we are certainly glad that although the hon. House leader in his wisdom railed against such high handed tactics when in opposition, wailed like a banshee, he has now surpassed the dubious honour of invoking time allocation.
I know a fine nuance was invoked in question period today when he referred to the fact that it was not closure. It is akin to differentiating between a club and a sword as to the method of shutting down debate.
I would as well offer support for the Chair in its wisdom of seeking advice and in the suggestion that House leaders convene a meeting to discuss this matter. It seems to me that in principle part of the problem which has led us to this point is a breakdown in communication. It is incumbent upon the opposition in its willingness to try to come to some agreement with the government House leader as to how we resolve matters of debate in the House without coming to a breaking point where the government House leader feels that he has to invoke the heavy handed measure of shutting down debate in such a unilateral fashion.
In the short time that I have to make these remarks, I want to offer support for the suggestion the Chair has brought forward to convene a meeting where this communication perhaps can be improved.
Perhaps in the future, although it has been only six years that the government has taken to surpass this benchmark or high water mark that it took the previous administration nine years to achieve in a dubious way, we can hopefully make better use of alternative channels of communication, the meetings of the House leaders being one and perhaps the best. In this way we could try to avoid getting to the point where all members of the House are being affected in a very substantial way.
I agree with the member for Winnipeg—Transcona when he says that there are more important pieces of legislation and matters of debate that would have led to discussions of this nature earlier. I do not mean to call this bill inconsequential, but it is simply, as pointed out by the opposition House leader, that we have reached a point in this short time where there is almost something like creeping softness and acceptance of the use of time allocation as a procedural blocking mechanism for debate. It has become an accepted manner of shutting down what is only to be deemed as the last bastion of debate on matters for the opposition to call the government to task on.
I strongly encourage the Chair to give this matter urgent attention. We cannot have this as an accepted practice. I would suggest that for us to do otherwise is to acquiesce and show apathy toward the deterioration of the procedures, the workings and the functions of the House.