Mr. Speaker, before I start my speech, I want to address the comments made by my Conservative colleague, who I think is misleading people.
This is not about knowing how or whether people vote. The public knows that there are different procedures and rules in the House that apply to each part of the day, and much more besides. Indeed, different rules determine when a debate on a given topic will be held and also who votes, how votes are held and who can allow whom to vote. There are also different types of votes.
Today's motion is not about all of these procedures or the freedom of members of the House at any time when the House is sitting. I think that is important to note, because my colleague's comments were misleading. The motion before us has to do with a very specific period and part of our procedure.
I would like to get back to the motion itself. It refers to the period allocated for statements by members, which happens once a day every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. During this time, MPs rise to make a statement of one minute or less. The MPs who are making statements should have the freedom to choose the subjects they will be talking about. These subjects can be varied.
Normally, the whip or a designated party member chooses the list of members who can speak on a given day, as opposed to the next day, and gives the list to the Speaker, so that he knows which members will speak on the designated day.
That is a little background for today's motion, which would determine who decides on the list of members who can speak and the day on which they can speak during member's statements. It is very specific.
I will explain how the NDP operates, since that is what I am familiar with. I must say that my NDP colleagues generally do not complain about how things are done. I am very comfortable with how the NDP whip decides on who will make a statement.
Indeed, a period of time is established and a statement is allocated to each member for a certain period of time. Then, once all members have had their turn, we start over again; the next time period is established and each member is allowed a statement. Accordingly, the distribution is relatively equitable. Each member is allowed at least one statement for a certain period of time, and so on. Unfortunately, this is not the case in all parties, but I will come back to that.
I myself have had the pleasure of making a few statements in the House since being elected to represent Pierrefonds—Dollard. For instance, I took advantage of the opportunity to promote the West Island women's forum and thank those who have contributed to its success.
I also commended the work of the organization PAS de la rue, and I took the opportunity to discuss what the bill on a national housing strategy introduced by my colleague from Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot could do for homeless seniors living in poverty.
For example:
I also congratulate the important South Asian community in Pierrefonds—Dollard and underline the tremendous work it is doing to keep its cultural life and to build bridges in the largest community of the West Island.
These are just a few examples. If I had the opportunity to make more statements, I would use it to talk about more things that go on in my riding, such as the community-based approach of the Poste de quartier 3, the possible elimination of the subsidy for fighting organized crime in Montreal and the negative repercussions that such a decision on the part of the Conservatives could have. That is just one example.
I would like to give some specific examples of topics that can be discussed in a statement: I can talk about individuals, projects, events that take place in my riding and bills that affect the people of Pierrefonds—Dollard in one way or another.
The NDP has risen in the House in the past and asked the Speaker to analyze the content of some statements that have been made by certain parties, statements that have been used to attack members of the House and spread misinformation about other political parties.
In reality, members' statements should be used to talk about things that are happening in our ridings. I do this proudly, but not all members do. Let us be pragmatic. Members can decide to talk about almost anything as long as they are respectful. What can influence them or motivate them to talk about such subjects rather than about their ridings?
I would like to share some statistics. An analysis conducted by the Ottawa Citizen showed that, since May 2011, 159 Conservative members' statements referred to the carbon tax, 42 were about the leader of the NDP, and 142 were about the New Democratic Party. Did these statements promote what was happening in Conservative members' ridings? One has to wonder.
Members decide what they will talk about. Are they going to waste that precious minute talking about the great leader of the NDP? That is their choice. However, the motion before us suggests that the list be determined alphabetically and that it be provided by the Speaker, rather than by the party whip. This way of doing things would take some power away from the parties, the power to decide who gets to speak and what they can speak about.
This would give members a little more freedom and power. If they want to talk about a certain subject, they know that the time is theirs and that no one other than the Speaker of the House gave them that time to speak. If a member of the party gave them the time to speak, it could affect the content of the members' statements in some cases. For example, the party member could give an MP the time but require him to talk about a specific subject; otherwise, he will not be given that time. It does not necessarily work like that.
As I said before, in the NDP, we are very good at arranging things, and members are free to talk about the subject of their choice. They know that, within a certain period of time, they will have one minute to talk about their riding or about any other subject of their choice.
However, what is worrisome and what probably led to the debate on this motion today is that members of the Conservative Party have complained. About 10 members have complained about being muzzled in one way or another when it comes to the content of their members' statements. That is unfortunate. The purpose of this motion is not necessarily to make accusations against the Conservative Party. It simply seeks to examine part of the procedure related to the period for statements by members in order to ensure that the content of those statements is more impartial and that one party member is not influencing the content of statements made by other members.
The comments and questions coming from the Conservative benches are unfortunate. The Prime Minister and the Conservative Party have muzzled this House on a number of occasions. There have been complaints about how work is done in committee, and a dozen or so members have complained about their inability to speak freely within the party. Again today, there does not seem to be much openness. They say that it is not them, it is the other parties; that the other parties are not doing as many good things as their party is; and that that is how things were done 10 years ago. Why the diversion tactics? Why not talk about the issue at hand, namely how this could affect procedures and freedom of expression for MPs, instead of trying to divert attention by pointing fingers and accusing people of various things at various times?
To conclude, I would like to say that the NDP defends freedom of speech for members in the House. For the NDP, the question is not whether or not members' statements should be doled out in alphabetical order. Our current system works, and it respects our MPs' freedom of expression. However, if this motion can give other members the opportunity to speak freely during members' statements, why not? We are prepared to move forward.