Madame Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. In terms of free votes, we really have to be careful about a few points.
Free votes are allowed in certain countries. However, free votes without restriction can lead to excesses. For instance, observers in the United States deplore the fact that votes are freer in that country. However, this can lead to more interference on the part of lobbyists or people who are bent on imposing their point of view. This in turn leads to a higher risk of bribery. In countries where there are no free votes and where everything is decided ahead of time, only the PMO might be tempted by that. But this is not the point of his question.
I would be in favour of more free votes, especially on matters of personal values and so on. However, there would need to be limits. We must push ahead on this, nonetheless. What we see currently--a case in point being the Liberals refusing to have committee chairs elected by secret ballot--is that the people across the way are not free to do what they want even when it comes to votes regarding committees.