Mr. Speaker, most people on this side in particular understand clearly that this is a political issue and not a charter or constitutional issue.
I would like to ask the member opposite what organization he thinks has the prime jurisdiction over legislation in this country. Is it the House of Commons or the lower or the supreme courts? If it is the House of Commons, I wonder if he would comment on the reasonableness of the Liberals in particular or the NDP basically telling their members how to vote, particularly Liberal cabinet members and so on.
If this is truly a democratic issue, is it reasonable, then, on such an important issue to tell members how to vote rather than have those members speaking up for their own organizations and constituents?
First, in the member's mind, who has that jurisdiction? Is it the courts or Parliament? If it is Parliament, should not everyone on an issue such as this have the right to a free vote? Could he address that fact?