Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate my colleague on his first speech in the House. He covered a lot of ground and is clearly well prepared and very determined to fight for Quebeckers' interests here in the House of Commons.
I would also like to take the opportunity to wish you a happy new year, Mr. Speaker, and a happy new year to all members of Parliament.
I did a bit of research on representation in the House. The legislative assemblies of every Canadian province recognize all parties that hold seats. For example, in Quebec, the three Québec solidaire members have the same rights as all other members. They have a budget and the right to speak in committee. Their speaking time in the assembly is proportional to the number of members they have.
That is the case in the other Canadian provinces as well as in Europe. The only democracy in the world that does not recognize political parties that hold seats—other than North Korea, if that can be considered a democracy—is Canada. Maybe it is time to take a close look at that. This is 2015. Social networking has opened the door to new ways of thinking. Debates about these issues should be happening here, not in the streets.
Does my colleague agree?