Mr. Speaker, I appreciated the speech made by the hon. member. I have a lot of respect for him and for his speech. His speech provided an interesting history of the Constitution. I very much appreciated it as well as his position on the creation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
I do not agree with the point he made, but most of his speech was about history.
I would like to know whether the member agrees with the statements made by the current Prime Minister when he was a member of this House. He said:
I agree that serious flaws exist in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms
Secondly, he said:
we think Parliament, not the court, should be making [laws].
Thirdly, he said:
I consider the notwithstanding clause a valid part of the Constitution . . . It's there to ensure that the courts themselves operate within the Charter and don't become a law unto themselves.
These three statements clearly show that the current Prime Minister does not support the charter and its ideas. Notwithstanding the speech made by the parliamentary secretary, who agreed with and fully supported the charter, his leader does not support the charter.
I would like to hear what the member has to say about that.