Mr. Speaker, I hope everyone knows that I agree entirely with my colleague from Bécancour—Nicolet—Saurel. Indeed, in this age of democracy and at this time of change, which the Prime Minister promised when he was elected, recognizing a party that represents over one million voters should be a no-brainer.
How many voters does it take for members to have the right to speak in this House?
I am not sure of the exact figure, but I believe that approximately 1.1 million voters are represented by 10 members here, members who are not entitled to research budgets and not allowed to take part in question period. They actually do take part in question period, but from the opposition benches with the other parties. They are not invited to sit on committees and cannot make any proposals or amendments in committee. We find this unacceptable in a self-respecting democracy.
I call on our Prime Minister, who has been in that role for just a few months now, to rectify the situation and make sure that all parliamentarians receive the budget they need and time to speak in the House and in committee in order to fulfill their obligations to their voters.
Whether we are talking about the Green Party, which has one member, the Bloc Québécois, which has 10, or the Liberals, NDP, and Conservatives, there is a simple way to resolve these matters through a proportionality rule. We see this as the very least the current government could do for our democracy to immediately address this situation.