Madam Speaker, I feel like I am being presented with a gift when I get such a lob ball question.
Is there anyone in the House who would doubt my commitment to parliamentary reform? I actually called one of the journalists from The Hill Times last night and congratulated him, reminding him that six months ago we put forth a pretty forceful article on the whole notion that the House of Commons had essentially degenerated to a point where we were nothing more than voting machines. I think the House leader was referring to my comments today in his question.
What we have today is a Prime Minister who has become seized with this issue. It is critical because it involves every member of the House. In the first press conference after the Prime Minister was re-elected, he was asked about the issue of parliamentary reform. His answer was, and I call it the Chrétien challenge—