Mr. Speaker, for those who may be watching this today, let me be perfectly clear as to what this debate is about. The Liberals have put forward a “discussion paper” that would permanently change the rules of Parliament, that would shut down debate permanently on Fridays, that would curtail the opposition's ability to hold the government to account by putting permanent limits on debate, and that would also allow the Prime Minister to answer questions for only 45 minutes per week.
What is wrong with this? What is wrong is that Parliament is not supposed to be a minor inconvenience for the Prime Minister. We are elected to hold the government to account. For the parliamentary secretary, I am sorry, but that is our job and that is what we will do. The member's comments suggest that somehow he is trying to justify the Prime Minister and the House leader's assertion that Parliament should function as if it is convenient for the Prime Minister. No, we are the official opposition and we will hold the government to account.
In what world did the member for Winnipeg North of the last Parliament become the member of Parliament of this Parliament in which he stands against the right of the official opposition to stand here and oppose the government?