Mr. Speaker, I will attempt to address both issues.
We were very hopeful that this matter would have been debated on Monday. I will not go into the details, but had that been the case, the leader of the Liberal Party would in fact have been there when it was originally scheduled. There were a number of commitments; a lot of individuals in Labrador and individual events were being planned, so there was a commitment from the leader of the Liberal Party to be there with Canadians. It is much like when the Prime Minister is obligated to be in places if the agenda changes.
On the latter point, with regard to the Speaker, yes, I was here. I would put my attendance record inside the House matched with that of the Minister of Immigration any day of the week.
We were quite pleased with the Speaker's ruling. Quite often, like question period and S. O. 31s, opposition parties and the government do provide a lead for the Speaker to follow from. It does not necessarily mean that the Speaker has to do it.