Absolutely. There are some excellent members. The House leader of the Alliance says there are a lot of good opposition members. I have worked with members throughout this place and in all parties and I can list a large number of members who have made an enormous contribution.
First, though, the member said I skirted the issue and quite frankly I think I hit it very squarely by virtue of referring to the fact that we have a majority situation here. The Prime Minister of Canada today, someone who served this country over a 40 year period, was elected by the members of his party to be the leader of that party.
Suddenly such a person in that position represents that party and leads that party through an election. If he and his party win the election he becomes the Prime Minister. He is the only cabinet minister who is known on election day. That person has been given an enormous mandate, not only by his political party but also by the voters of Canada. That means he has to build a team. That means he has to make decisions. That means he is accountable, he is the bottom line, where the buck stops.
How much authority does that Prime Minister have to delegate down the line? As much as possible, because there are good people within caucus, but he cannot delegate and say let us have a vote on who will be in cabinet. Obviously there have to be some strategic choices and we cannot all participate in those discussions. What level would we go with next, with parliamentary secretaries, committee chairs or special caucus committees? There are various levels of appointments.
I would say to the member that what is happening now is an example of democracy and he should understand that in a majority situation someone must be in charge.