Mr. Speaker, one thing I find it hard not to be upset about is this fallacy that the member's party perpetrated on the Canadian public that it was willing, and in fact eager, to try to make this Parliament work, that it would try to work in a co-operative manner, put forward ideas and consult with the government. I remarked yesterday that on the day of the Speaker's election all parties were actually talking this talk but unfortunately they did not walk the walk.
We have now learned that the hon. member's party, virtually since the election, was in consultations not with the government to try to make this Parliament work, as Canadians would like, but with the separatists to overturn the result of the election because it did not like the result.
I wonder if the member could explain to Canadians watching today why it is that his party and the member personally would support a motion of non-confidence in the government, which the official opposition on behalf of the so-called separatist coalition would, after six days of debate, decide in their infinite wisdom that Parliament is not working and they have to overturn the result of the election.
Instead of working in a positive way with the government and all parties, they decided that they had to throw the country into turmoil and move forward with a motion of non-confidence at the very time that our country is facing probably the greatest economic peril since the Great Depression. Most people recognize we have some very serious economic challenges.
The other question I would like the member to address is, how is it that when the NDP members talk about the urgency of the economic situation, they would overturn the election result and install an unstable coalition government that would take months to get up and running? Why instead will they not agree to wait for the budget that we have committed to bring forward after consultation on January 27?