Mr. Speaker, on the one hand, it would ensure that parliamentarians are not being played for fools, that they are not just here to rubber-stamp agreements. It is my understanding that we were elected by the people to represent interests and values, so doing actual work on agreements should be a big part of our responsibility.
What the bill would have done, for example, is set a minimum time frame to ensure that we have time to study an agreement before it is tabled and debated here in the House. There would be an actual study in committee. The idea is never to repeat what we went through in late 2020, when we studied an agreement without having the actual text of that agreement. It was beyond ridiculous. The bill would also guarantee Parliament's support for an agreement before it is signed, not just its rubber stamp after the fact. At the end of the day, this bill would ensure that parliamentarians do actual work on agreements.