Madam Speaker, I cannot find the contradiction that the hon. member cites but I do point out that part of what a government does is legislate so that it cannot act in an irresponsible manner. That is why we have a constitution in the country.
We make amendments to the constitution that are not amendable by one government alone. Depending upon the amending formula, it requires unanimity, seven provinces or 50% of the population. A couple of other amending formulas for exceptional cases require different levels of consent.
However the point is to legislate something that one cannot change oneself. We did that with the Canada pension plan, as the hon. member will know, so that the federal government could not unilaterally change the rules under which Canadians enjoy the potential benefits of that plan. It was an amending formula which, at least on paper, was more strict than that of the seven provinces or 50% formula in place under that plan.
One does act in this manner. When we speak of creating binding agreements with the provinces, the point is that we bind ourselves and future governments so that they must act in a consensual manner and they must find the support of those provinces. This ensures that a government, which is almost always elected by less than 50% of the population until we have some kind of electoral reform, cannot act without seeking some kind of broader consensus which actually reflects the will of the majority of Canadians.
I do not see what the contradiction is in saying that we would legislate to bind our own hands.