Mr. Speaker, I am sorry that the member has such a cynical view of what happens. In fact some of the information he has presented has cast a light on this that quite frankly is not a fair reflection. For instance, he gave the example that only 21 private members' items in the second session of the 36th parliament out of 772 were actually votable.
First, the second session of the 36th parliament had private members' business on every required day. There was only room for that many, for 72. We could have had a million bills put in and it would not have mattered. We could only deal with 72 during the second session of the 36th parliament. In fact, 21 out of the 70 were votable. That is as prescribed by the rules of the House.
The member also asked about the criteria. The criteria are published. He also talked about some secret committee. There are two members of the government and four members of the opposition on the committee. It is not just somebody controlling it. They happen to be our representatives.
The member made one statement that I really disagree with. He said that private members' business is ineffectual. I want him to answer this question. Does he know what Bill C-204 was in the last parliament? Does he know it was never drawn? Does he know that it was never voted on? However, does he know that it was in the last throne speech and that we now have parental leave for a full year because a private member had an idea and put it in a bill?