Mr. Speaker, once again the Liberals have killed an attempt by a majority of members of the House to reduce the democratic deficit. We do not know which of the two Prime Ministers sitting opposite cracked the whip but we do know that backbenchers over there cringed and tugged their forelocks and obeyed.
It was a simple agreement among all parties that would have made private members' bills votable. It was a small step toward further democracy in this place but the word democracy is a foreign word to the Liberals.
In November the House voted unanimously to adopt the 4th report of the standing committee that called for full votability of all private bills.
What optimism there was after that, Mr. Speaker. Even Liberals were joyful at the prospect of seeing this tiny baby step toward the democratization of the House. At least that is what they conveyed publicly.
Canadians should know, as do all members of the House, it does not matter who leads them, as long as the Liberals are in power Canada will be run as a dictatorship.