Madam Speaker, I will try to make my presentation quite short. One really has to wonder the about the motivation of the opposition in the debate. I listened to the hon. Leader of the Opposition a moment ago. He said this matter should go to committee immediately. We all agree with that.
The hon. House leader on the government side indicated well before eleven o'clock, more than two hours ago, that the government was prepared to support this matter going to committee. Yet we are talking about this motion. It should have gone to a committee two to three hours ago.
I listened to the hon. member for Fraser Valley about an hour ago. He said that we needed to know the facts of this case. We all agree, but who is going to establish the facts of the case? It would be the committee. It is not the House in this debate. Why are we not sending the motion to the committee?
It makes us wonder about the motivation of the members of the opposition in this debate. They are going over the same ground over and over again.
The member for Pictou--Antigonish--Guysborough was concerned about the reputation of parliament. We are all concerned about the reputation of parliament. Listen to what the opposition members have said for the last two to three hours: Everything they have said has brought down the reputation of parliament.
Anybody with a sane mind would understand that this is a very straightforward motion. The Speaker has accepted that this is a matter acceptable to the House. We have indicated on both sides of the House that it should go to the committee. The committee is the proper body to deal with this matter
I wonder whether the opposition members have faith in the committee. Does the kind of presentation they are giving mean that they have contempt for the committee? Do opposition members have faith in the committee? I suspect the committee is well equipped to deal with this matter.
I appeal to the opposition members to give it a rest; let it go. We have listened to these spurious arguments for two to three hours. I think that viewers across Canada who have been watching the debate must be sick by now.
We have established the parameters of the argument. Let the debate end and let the motion go to committee immediately.