Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for Saanich—Gulf Islands for her excellent speech. She and I share the same concerns about the process that is being imposed by the government.
By taking rights away from MPs who sit in the House as independents, the government is forcing them to participate in a charade. It is a complete sham when they propose amendments. However, those members deserve to have their amendments considered because they, too, represent the public and the people who elected them. We tried to give them a stronger voice and more power. Unfortunately, our voices fell on the deaf ears of this government.
What is more, when the process was proposed in committee, the Liberals sided with the government and voted to force independent MPs to submit to this process, which gives them only one minute to present their ideas. There is no other avenue for debating their proposed amendments.
I would like to ask the member a very specific question, which was discussed at the Standing Committee on Finance in the context of Bill C-43. There is an element in this bill that strikes me as being completely out of place in a budget. It enables the provinces to withdraw or include a mandatory residency period for refugee claimants applying for welfare.
My colleague brought this up at the Standing Committee on Finance, and I would like to give her a bit more time to comment on it.
Would she like to say more about whether this is a legitimate measure to have included in a budget bill?