Mr. Speaker, I did enjoy most if not all of the member's remarks. I know that he has worked on this bill extensively for a long time and is very sincere in his presentation.
There is no question about it: we are responsible to our constituents in coming to this place. But we do live in a representative democracy. We do not always necessarily vote with our constituents 100% of the time because we also have to exercise judgment based on all the information coming forward and there is sometimes some questioning in that.
I think that constituents always have an opportunity in the next election to give us the boot, so to speak, if they disagree with our judgment. I know I always try to stick with my constituents in the decisions I make, but I do think we have some unique circumstances here.
My question really relates to some of the recent crossings of the floor. I think that for these individuals coming over to the Liberal Party, it really was not the individual who left the party but the party that left the individual in terms of the Conservative Party of Canada.
For those individuals who believed in more progressive conservatism, so to speak, if they had had to sit as independents they would not have been able to serve their constituents in the same way. As the member related, they would not have had the caucus research and they would not have had as much time in question period, et cetera. I think it would do a disservice to the individuals in those situations. In this instance, the party really left the individual rather than the other way around.