Mr. Chairman, I have just a brief comment on this.
We do not support this amendment. We feel that the time to deal with this is now. I think we have an obligation to reflect on what the actual consequences of passing this amendment would be. They would be that we would have a debate for the next three and a half years about this salary package. I do not think that would be particularly healthy for the political process.
I think that this kind of thing was done just before an election and I think that is what this kind of measure was at one point intended for. It would make more sense to do it just before an election so that we would not have a three and a half year period in which all of the vicissitudes of politics could enter into the debate. I think it would be ill advised if it passed at this point.
Second, I would just like to say for the hon. member who said this would give constituents a chance to pass judgment that it would not really. They would just get a chance to pass judgment on who would get the new salary. They would not get a chance to pass judgment on whether or not that salary would be paid, so it is a bit of an illusion to suggest that somehow voters would get to render a decision on whether or not the salary package would be accepted. All they would be able to decide is who would receive the salary, not whether or not that was what would be paid.