Mr. Speaker, this is probably one of the most important issues in this parliament that is not dealt with often enough. I note that you, Mr. Speaker, chaired the Special Committee on the Modernization and Improvement of the Procedures of the House of Commons. I commend you for your efforts. However, I will speak somewhat critically not about what is in the report but what is not in it.
My colleagues, including the hon. member for Fraser Valley, spoke very eloquently about some of the positive changes. He also spoke about some of the shortcomings of that report.
It is important to note that the first order of business today is the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons motion on the report of the Special Committee on the Modernization and Improvement of the Procedures of the House of Commons. It is ironic that we are talking about the modernization of this parliament. Yes, there are some positive steps. However, I was elected in 1997. I have looked at some of the things that have been said and some of the things that have happened since being elected, and the fact that we increasingly hear from our constituents how dysfunctional this place has become. It is true.
I have concerns that this report does not deal with some of those issues. I will quote a few members. The Liberal member of parliament for Toronto--Danforth said, “Parliament doesn't work. It's broken. It's like a car motor that's working on two cylinders.”
The member for Lac-Saint-Louis, again another government member, said, “Being in the backbench, we are typecast as if we are all stupid. We're just supposed to be voting machines.”
These are quotes from Liberal government members.
The current Minister of Finance said last year “We have been discussing the role of Parliament in enshrining the values of the nation and its response to change.” This is very telling. He went on to say “This is an empty debate unless it recognizes the role of the parliamentarians themselves. MPs must have the opportunity to truly represent both their consciences and constituencies.”
These words speak volumes. There are things that are not dealt with in this report and I will try to address some of them. I will read from the document entitled “Building Trust” which the member for Fraser Valley wrote in January 2001 and which has been widely circulated. I applaud him as he put forward some very constructive changes.
One change the hon. member talked about was free votes in the House of Commons. I will read a quote from the Leader of the Reform Party of Canada, the hon. member for Calgary Southwest. He said:
There is a myth in the House that lurking out there somewhere is the fiery dragon of the confidence convention, the erroneous belief studiously cultivated by the government that if a government or motion is defeated, or an opposition bill, motion or amendment is passed, this obliges the government to resign. This myth is used to coerce government members, especially backbenchers, to vote for government bills and motions with which they and their constituents disagree and to vote against opposition bills, motions and amendments with which they substantially agree. The reality is that the fiery dragon of the confidence convention in its traditional form is dead. The sooner the House officially recognizes that fact, the better for all.
This is not dealt with in this report. I would submit that if there is a government bill and there are government members who want to vote against it, it is probably a bad bill. It probably needs more work. It probably needs more amendments.
The wrath of the Prime Minister should not come down upon these members, as we have seen many times in the House. They are threatened with not having their nomination papers signed or the possibility of not being candidates for the Liberal Party in the next election. We have seen examples of that. Members literally have left here in tears because they had to vote against their constituents and their conscience. This a practice that has evolved over years and it has to change.
A government should not be defeated if a government bill is defeated. I would submit the only time there should ever be a confidence vote is on a throne speech or a budget bill, and that is it. Unfortunately, at the Prime Minister's own whim he can declare a confidence motion and the trained seals stand up and vote against their consciences.
I can give some examples, and I believe this is a serious matter. With respect to the ethics counsellor becoming a true officer of parliament, I will quote what the government said:
A Liberal government will appoint an independent Ethics Counsellor to advise both public officials and lobbyists in the day-to-day application of the Code of Conduct for Public Officials. The Ethics Counsellor will be appointed after consultation with the leaders of all parties in the House of Commons and will report directly to Parliament.
That comes right from the Liberal red book 1 campaign in the 1993 election. Of course the Liberals had an opportunity to vote on that. This was in their campaign promises. As we are fully aware, this was an opposition supply day motion, which was written word for word from the government promise, and the government members stood up one by one and voted against it. That is wrong.
If we are going to really empower parliamentarians, we have to bring a change of culture. As the member for Fraser Valley so eloquently stated, it is the culture that has to change. There are 301 members of parliament elected to the House, coming from five political parties at the moment. There is a lot of talent and expertise in so many areas on all sides of the House which is so often ignored. We could be a much stronger country, if these free votes and debates were allowed.
One NDP member asked a question a few moments ago. I was part of the fisheries committee when I was first elected in 1997 under the chairmanship of the member for Gander--Grand Falls. He did an excellent job chairing that committee. The fisheries committee wrote 13 reports. Eight of those reports were written unanimously by five political parties.
We sat down for hours of painstaking debate, making compromises, asking what was in the best interest of the country and the citizens in these fishing communities and how could we help them. We went to those communities and listened to those people. Sometimes we sat up until 2.00 o'clock or 3.00 o'clock in the morning in community halls listening to their concerns. Then those members sat down and wrote a detailed report with very positive, substantial recommendations. It was a unanimous report that would have made a difference in these people's lives and would have improved the commercial fishing industry.
When the report left the committee room and came into the Chamber, the opportunity to vote arrived. Guess what happened? Government members stood up one by one, including the people who wrote and put their signatures to it as a unanimous report, and voted against the report. That is not good for democracy. It is a scam. It is not good for the country. That is what needs to change.
Again, I submit that if there are members on that side or this side who want to freely vote for or against something because they believe it is in the best interest of the country and their constituents, they should do so. If they believe the bill is not right and needs further amendments to make it right, then they should put them forward.
Look at the immigration bill now before the Senate. That is another example. It desperately needs more work. The government opposed numerous amendments from the opposition members which would have strengthened the bill.
When that bill was before the House, we were told that it was critical that it be fast-tracked through the House of Commons because it was needed to deal with the boatloads of people arriving on the shores of British Columbia claiming refugee status and changes to the immigration system were needed.
Now that very same bill is before the Senate and the government is saying that the legislation needs to be put through to deal with terrorists. This is the same piece of legislation. It needs to be strengthened and the government needs to listen to some of the proposed amendments. It is critical that we deal with that. It has not been dealt with.
It is the culture that has to change. I encourage the government to take the opportunity with the acceptance of this modernization bill, as it is called, to modernize the culture rather than modernizing parliament. Let us bring back what Canadians really want.
There are so many other issues with which we need to deal. We often hear of the importance of having an elected Senate to bring back accountability and integrity. I fully support the need to reform the Senate, but the members of the House need to look in the mirror. The House is more dysfunctional than the Senate.
When we talk of modernizing parliament, we should talk about empowering all 301 parliamentarians from all parties to bring these ideas forward and make a difference. Some of the best work done in parliament is at the committee level. There we have committees of 16 or 17 members of parliament from all parties who bring in witnesses and have a great opportunity for debate.
I appreciate there are some changes coming with respect to the televising of these committees. I have to admit that I personally have some concern with that recommendation. As opposed to concentrating on the important work that is accomplished now, it may actually give rise to a desire to grandstand before the television cameras. I feel that committees are very effective. One of the highlights of my parliamentary career is my involvement with committees and the work that we have been able to accomplish. Therefore, I do have some concerns there.
Although, I believe committees do some incredible work, but the reports they write almost always sit on a minister's shelf collecting dust and never see the light of day. There are millions of dollars every year spent in committees. They go out and talk to Canadians, they research and study these reports and listen to witnesses, yet the report never sees the light of day. Everyone in the House knows that. There are numerous hard examples.
If we are going to modernize parliament, we need to look at how we can change the culture in the House. How do we empower parliamentarians from all parties? How do we remove the partisan chip that is there?
I appreciate that the government has a mandate to govern and that cabinet has to bring forward this legislation. I understand that, I accept it and I support that. However, that does not mean that it has to gag its own backbenchers and all the opposition members. Nor does it mean that it has to ram through closure to get a bill through.
There is a reason why this is happening. It is because there is an outcry from Canadians that this is not the direction in which they want to go. When it comes from government members and they are completely ignored, when they are forced to vote with the government or face the wrath of the Prime Minister that they may not be candidates for that party in the next federal election, that is wrong. That is what needs to change.
I appreciate there are some positive steps in this document toward modernizing parliament, I feel it is important to stand up and state that we must be willing to change the culture when parliamentarians bring forward these excellent private members' bills.
What does the government do? It does not make them votable. The committee has the power to deem which private members' bills are votable. There are many good ones that have never seen the light of day. The government votes against the ones that do. Once in a while it rewrites them into its own legislation. Why does it not allow us to pass these bills?
I would encourage a change in the culture, but I am not convinced it can happen under the leadership we have now. I hope we will see steps in that direction with this report. Whether the government is willing to change the culture and make a difference in parliament will remain to be seen in the years ahead.