Mr. Speaker, I should not have used that line at the outset. I felt like I was speaking at my own funeral, but now I have just heard other people speak at it.
Where do I start? My wife is a chef, so that is why it is such a lovely kitchen.
I do not mind the label “maverick”. I am a shameless politician who likes getting elected, and that does not hurt, but I have actually always seen myself as being more of a reformer. I am not alone, standing here and giving this speech.
I think about the different issues I have raised over the years. When I first raised privacy issues, we worked collaboratively at committee. It was largely unanimous in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, but privacy was not on the government's agenda. It then became government legislation on the government's agenda, like the digital government the member for Taiaiako'n—Parkdale—High Park just spoke about. We were early speaking about it, and now it is more firmly part of the government's agenda, recognizing that we live our lives online and we need laws to respect and realize that reality.
When we look at the working income tax benefit that became the Canada workers benefit, it was a caucus resolution that I put forward, which then became government policy.
I do not want to tell tales out of school, but the former prime minister called me shortly after my second son was born in December 2019. I said, “Prime Minister, thank you so much for the call. I have to be honest. You are not going to love this, but I just won the private member's bill lottery again and I am going to do something on drug policy.” There was a pause on the phone. I said, “We can collaborate. I could go alone and do drug decriminalization, but give me an adviser from your office, an adviser from Health and an adviser from Justice, and we will find consensus and get something done.” We did that and we changed the law, and now we treat substance use more as a health issue than we otherwise did.
I think persistence is right. I think patience is right. I think working collaboratively while maintaining a sense of principled independence is also an important part of the picture.
It has been great working with the members. I look forward to swimming in that pool. They can let me know when it is ready and I will be in Vancouver.
This is the last thing. Everyone has been offering advice. I would tell the leader of the NDP, who is new, to stick to his principles. I would tell the Prime Minister to stick to his values. I would tell the Conservative leader to find his sincere and serious side, and the picture might improve. Otherwise, I thank everyone.