Mr. Speaker, 75 questions and no answers, I guess, but I will give an answer pretty quickly. If we want to talk about precedents, I am always amazed at the Alliance discussion about grassroots because the precedent of where that came from is just very good for the Alliance Party. The precedent of where grassroots came from is King John's knights standing on the grass sod at Runnymede and I suggest that it has very little to do with grassroots today. On the precedent coming out of 1941, to Speaker Fraser's ruling in 1988, to the ruling by Speaker Milliken, I will stand by my point: It is very clear.
He can waste time discussing that if he wants. The Speakers have ruled on it and they have agreed that the Senate has a right to split a bill. I find that the precedent from the party that says it would like Senate reform but does not want to give the Senate any more powers is amazing. I would say the same thing to my NDP colleague. They cannot have it both ways.
I am not willing and do not want to waste my time debating the precedent of whether or not the Senate had the right to split the bill and send it back. It has been done. I want it debated on the fact that it is a poor piece of legislation. It is not worth the paper it is written on and it is high time we did something to throw it out of here besides waste words.