Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the hon. member a couple of questions. However I would rather make a statement than ask a question and ask him to respond to it.
I moved to this country in 1967. In 1968 I chose this place to spend the rest of my life. I applied for citizenship and received it in the early seventies. I have always been interested in politics and paid attention to what was going on. One of the things that surprised me over and over again was the objection that the people at large had to certain decisions that were being made by the government. Yet the government made those decisions anyway.
I do not want to argue about whether the metric system was the right thing to do. That is not the point. The point is that at that particular time there was an overwhelming number of people who were against it. Yet we still got it.
There were a number of other issues that came up. The GST came in 1991 under this member's party. I think he would agree with me that there was not overwhelming support from the public, but that did not seem to matter. We got it anyway.
It just appeared to me that, over the years that I was watching, it did not matter which government was in power, whatever it wanted to do, it did it. Committees and debates in the House of Commons were going through the motions. I wonder if it leads anywhere. Does it resolve anything? Is it always what the front row on that side of the House wants, it gets? That is what the country will get, like it or not. We will enjoy one day of democracy, which is election day. Is there any hope that will ever change, in the hon. member's view?