Mr. Speaker, something that has bothered me for years about parliaments, not just about our Parliament but many parliaments, is that we seem to get egocentrically concentrated on our own personal activities, such as how one member has done this or how another member has done that. We seem to spend an excessive amount of parliamentary time debating and discussing these things when the affairs of the nation are ignored or not taken care of, and it is not that these things are not important.
I am wondering, because my colleague has an interest in the machinery of government, if he thinks there is a way that these issues can be dealt with or controlled so they do not interfere so much with the business of the state. I am not sure what that might be. Perhaps it should be mandatory to first raise these problems in a committee before they are allowed to come to Parliament. Then, if they have to, they can be referred to Parliament.
I do not know if the member has given any thought to some of the things we spend House time on given that it is very limited time. It takes us away from debating the major issues of the day that affect all Canadians, not just ourselves personally.