Madam Speaker, I listened with interest to the remarks of the parliamentary secretary. Implicit in his remarks was the assumption that we are a small political party representing a few people on the outside of the fence looking in.
However one of the most unreported stories of Quebec City last week was that the mikes were left on inside the room when the 34 heads of state thought they were in closed session.
It is not nearly as much beer and skittles as the member for London—Fanshawe would have us believe. Speakers such as the presidents of Paraguay, Guatemala, and Venezuela all spoke about concerns they have as small, poor countries in Latin America and the Caribbean that are trying to compete with the giant to the south of us and to the north of them.
A great deal has been said today, both by the member who just spoke and the hon. member from Edmonton, on the matter of democracy. Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, in the closed door meeting where the microphone was inadvertently left on, said that if people were denied land and power was concentrated in the hands of two per cent of the population, one could not speak of democracy. Would the member for London—Fanshawe care to comment?