Mr. Speaker, I have a couple of points on this. I really wish that the New Democrats would actually focus on the issue at hand, which is dealing with income inequality and creating public policy to do that. This motion could have been amended to add “and NDP governments” and it would have been perfectly legitimate, but the question is how productive that is when we ought to be seeking consensus across party lines on this and dealing with the issues that are important.
The member took a swipe at the Conservatives. The Conservatives have not been definitive here today, but I know there were more than 20 Conservatives who voted for my motion to study income inequality at committee. I know that many members of the Conservative Party have a sense that there is a growing inequality of opportunity, that it is wrong, and that we need to do something about it.
In the wording of motions and in our conduct in the House, we should try to appeal to people's better angels from time to time, as opposed to driving divisive wedges between the parties, and actually work together to develop solutions. There is a lot of common ground between the NDP, the Conservatives, and the Liberals when it comes to equality of opportunity. If we frame it as such, we can gain better consensus and build better public policy that respects all parties but, more importantly, deals with an important issue facing Canadians.