Mr. Speaker, I listened with great interest to the parliamentary secretary. He used some pretty loaded language. He said that the opposition was hypocritical. Then he talked about self-righteousness. Listening to the debate, I could only surmise that the self-righteousness is actually coming from him.
I know that he believes that he knows a lot, but the fact is that we all look at legislation, and we have basic questions we want to address. To characterize this as self-righteous or hypocritical is very unparliamentary, because there are basic questions that need to be asked.
One of them is why it took so long for this legislation to come forward. The convention was signed in 2008. It took four years for it to come forward, and all of a sudden, it is being jammed through, rushed through, at the last minute, which, of course, is a pattern with the Conservative government. It is very disturbing.
I guess the most basic question is how the government can stand up with any credibility and pass this legislation and call it a ratification of the convention, when in actual fact, examination of this bill would suggest that it is undermining the convention. If we heed the words of the former negotiator, Mr. Turcotte, that is what he said, in effect.
Leave aside the self-righteousness. Why not just address some of the questions that are legitimately coming forward about this bill?