Mr. Speaker, the member clearly talked around the issue and did it quite effectively, but he did not focus on the real issue. The real issue is the power of the Prime Minister and the PMO to have their way in the House on every issue all the time. That is the issue that I do not think we can skirt in this debate, because if they lose a vote in committee they will or will attempt to change the rules to vote over again, simply to get it their way.
It is unfair for the member to get up and waste the time of the House in skirting all around the issue. The issue is control, absolute control. It is the issue of the present Prime Minister versus the former finance minister, the would-be prime minister, if we will. I can see the Prime Minister today talking to his caucus just simply laying it on the line that it is either his way or we go to the polls. I would bet a dollar to a donut that is the threat he is squarely pointing back at his caucus to corner the former minister of finance's supporters versus the Prime Minister's supporters.
I would like to hear the parliamentary secretary for once address the honesty of the topic: simply the extreme power of the Prime Minister. Did the Prime Minister threaten them with an immediate election call if they did not all come in here and vote for the Prime Minister on this issue? In other words, if he did not get his way there would be a snap election.