Government Business No. 35—Extension of Sitting Hours and Conduct of Extended Proceedings  Mr. Speaker, that member voted against the Canada child benefit or her party did. That member voted against dental care for our most vulnerable children and seniors. That member voted against child care. That member regularly obstructs and voted against 130 measures before Christmas that would have supported the very people she professes to want to help.

Government Business No. 35—Extension of Sitting Hours and Conduct of Extended Proceedings  Mr. Speaker, those members are good with the fake outrage, but they are also very good at blocking needed supports for the people they profess to care about, but do not. They are very good at obstructing all of the things that this government proposes that will help those very people.

Government Business No. 35—Extension of Sitting Hours and Conduct of Extended Proceedings  Mr. Speaker, that is of course exactly why we reject the premise that this in any way would undermine the rights of parliamentarians; in fact, it would expand them. It would allow members more time and more opportunity, potentially, to debate bills that are contentious. We hope the time available and afforded to the members of the official opposition would allow them to participate in debate a little more constructively rather than obstructively and putting up all of the fake roadblocks and obstacles they like to put up to toxify the environment here and have Canadians turn away from the proceedings of this institution and disengage from the public life of our country.

Government Business No. 35—Extension of Sitting Hours and Conduct of Extended Proceedings  Mr. Speaker, the answer is this: not nearly as much as was taken away by making interpreters work for 30 hours straight.

Government Business No. 35—Extension of Sitting Hours and Conduct of Extended Proceedings  Mr. Speaker, to extend the hypothetical situation, what kind of boss says that he is not letting anyone leave the chamber until Christmas, that he is going to make sure that everyone stays in the House and votes until Christmas until he gets his way, then five minutes later, hypothetically, goes to a fundraiser on the Island of Montreal, and on his way back visits a McDonald's franchise and makes a big, gaudy spectacle of coming in here with bags of french fries and hamburgers for the skeleton crew that is left behind?

Government Business No. 35—Extension of Sitting Hours and Conduct of Extended Proceedings  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for Courtenay—Alberni, because it is time to actually address this in a very serious manner. There are 338 members of the chamber. It is not healthy for any single one of us to be forced to vote on billion-dollar items for 30 straight hours.

Government Business No. 35—Extension of Sitting Hours and Conduct of Extended Proceedings  Mr. Speaker, I do not reject the premise of that question. I cannot speak to their motivations, but I can speak to the phenomenon we see. We see it south of the border. We see it in some parts of Europe. We see it in the populist right wing that seeks to toxify our democratic institution, that seeks to conflate minor things and that seeks to make so toxic and so negative the proceedings of places like this, the most solemn of our democratic chambers in this country, so that Canadians turn away in anger or in sorrow from the debates we have in this place and tune out the very important things we discuss here.

Government Business No. 35—Extension of Sitting Hours and Conduct of Extended Proceedings  Mr. Speaker, the member ridiculed the member for Saanich—Gulf Islands for her very appropriate concern for the well-being of all members of the House. Let me point out to him once again a very ironic fact—

Government Business No. 35—Extension of Sitting Hours and Conduct of Extended Proceedings  Mr. Speaker, I thank the member, however, for his concern for health care. I would really have appreciated it if he had been concerned enough about health care to go to his leader, on the eve of the estimates we just finished voting on before Christmas, to tell him to not vote against the 3.1 billion additional dollars we have provided for doctors, nurses and personal care workers in the member's home province of Ontario.

Government Business No. 35—Extension of Sitting Hours and Conduct of Extended Proceedings  Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for Saanich—Gulf Islands for her observations. I know all of us are happy that she is back, hale and hearty, and that she is participating in this debate. I would also say that, like so many other members on this side of the House, the member is not afraid of hard work and, more importantly, of putting in the preparation and study required to bring constructive ideas to the House and positive contributions to debate.

Government Business No. 35—Extension of Sitting Hours and Conduct of Extended Proceedings  Mr. Speaker, I think we will all note that, once again, the member is standing up and refusing to allow a debate on child care and a vote on child care to occur in this chamber. I want to finish my remarks and my thanking the hon. member for Saanich—Gulf Islands for her many contributions and for her eternal concern for the respect of the rules of this place, as well as for the health and well-being of the people who inhabit this place from all parties and those who support us here.

Business of the House  Mr. Speaker, I would like to inform the House that the opposition day designated for Thursday, February 29 has been undesignated and will now take place on Friday, March 1.

Canada Early Learning and Child Care Act  Mr. Speaker, I give notice that, with respect to the consideration of the motion relating to the Senate amendment to Bill C-35, an act respecting early learning and child care in Canada, at the next sitting of the House a minister of the Crown shall move, pursuant to Standing Order 57, that debate be not further adjourned.

Government Business No. 35—Extension of Sitting Hours and Conduct of Extended Proceedings  Mr. Speaker, I certainly want to thank my colleague for his excellent summary of what this motion would accomplish. It would, simply put, allow more time for debate. Every time we have discussions among parties, it is often stressed, from parties in any corner of the House, that we require more time to debate bills.

Government Business No. 35—Extension of Sitting Hours and Conduct of Extended Proceedings  Mr. Speaker, in relation to the consideration of Government Business No. 35, I move: That debate be not further adjourned.