Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate the hon. member on his election to the House. It is great to see such a wide range of diversity now represented in the House. We are all better off for it.
I do appreciate his question because that is the frustration that many Canadians are feeling. There has not been the type of leadership that we would have liked to see. During the election many will remember that we tried to put forward a debate on a whole host of these issues, but what happened? It was one of the nastiest campaigns we have ever seen in the history of the country.
That was unfortunate because we would have liked to hear new ideas. We would have liked to address a lot of the issues that Canadians want this place to deal with. We have not been able to do that. We have seen the same old ideas come forward from the government because it is not really willing to listen.
Here is why I make that plea today. As the official opposition, given the framework of this new Parliament, we have tried to put forward very responsible amendments to the throne speech in order to give some vision and some direction that represents more Canadians. Hopefully it will take us out of the hole that the government and its lack of leadership has put Canadians into. We want to bring an open, honest, and transparent debate to this place. We hope the Liberals will take heed and listen to Canadians.