The opposition House leader makes a very valid point. The committee, which would receive this particular bill, has not even been comprised. It is absolutely perverse that we would rush the bill through so that it would be held in abeyance. It would be nebulously floating out there somewhere in never-never land waiting for the committee to be comprised.
I think we have to look at all the factual circumstances here. The government House leader has jumped the gun. He has brought in time allocation, and I will not use a vulgar analogy about why dogs do certain things to themselves, but he is doing it simply because he can. It makes one wonder if in fact the time that he spent in opposition has left him with some deep psychological sense of insecurity or maybe he spent a lot of time hanging around in a gym locker when he was a kid because he is bullying the House of Commons. That is what is happening.
In simple terms, the government House leader is taking advantage of the rules because he can. There is no need whatsoever for the government House leader to bring in time allocation on this bill and in many other instances where he has exercised that discretion.
Mr. Speaker, I do not want to prolong this. I understand that you will consider the arguments that have been presented. I believe that it was quoted by the Bloc House leader that 30% of the bills that we have seen passed over the past seven years have been time allocated. I would suggest that the percentage is an outrageous proportion when one considers that the importance of these bills are discussed in this place.
The role of each and every individual in the Chamber is to have an opportunity to stand up and debate legislation. If we want Canadians to have faith in this institution and in the relevance of parliament, we must be able to debate intelligently and to make suggestions, not just to take a wrecking ball approach but to put forward thoughtful suggestions and thoughtful input into legislation.
It is a pre-emptive strike by the government to bring in time allocation on the bill when there is ample time to discuss it. There is obviously no urgency for the government to have the bill passed through the House in this instance.