Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Suspension Act  Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak in opposition to the closure or time allocation motion introduced today by the government. This motion refers to Bill C-18, an act to suspend the operation of the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act. It is not good to have the government move to cut off debate so that this bill can receive approval quickly.

House Of Commons  Speaker, I said on behalf of the government it will be found over the life of this Parliament that this government will be using time allocation and closure far less frequently than its predecessor. I challenge the opposition House leader to raise this again after a few years and see if I am right. Speaking of democracy, I do not know why the hon. member is complaining when the majority of members want to have a decision taken.

House Of Commons  Will the government House leader stand and tell this House that the government will never again for the life of this Parliament resort to such undemocratic tactics as closure through time allocation to stifle debate?

House Of Commons  In the Liberal red book the government says it will take a series of initiatives to restore confidence in the institutions of government; open government will be the watch word of the Liberal program. Is the use of closure through time allocation one of the initiatives that will be used to restore confidence? Is this what the House leader calls open government?

Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Suspension Act  Speaker, I will try to condense a 20-minute speech into 10 minutes to conform with the time allocation motion which restricts the time I have to address the House. It is a sad day to be speaking, about two months into a new Parliament.

Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Suspension Act  I remember it took the Conservatives at least a few months before they brought in the heavy hand of closure or time allocation. I know that the previous Prime Minister, Mr. Mulroney, held this place in contempt. For him Parliament was a nuisance, something that he had to put up with as he imposed his agenda on the people of Canada.

Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Suspension Act  Madam Speaker, the hon. member's question reminds me of question period in the afternoon or on Friday morning when a government member plants a question for his minister. I thank the hon. member. We voted against the time allocation motion and against closure because it is unacceptable, particularly in a parliamentary government. The hon. member for Kingston and the Islands is right to insist, especially since it would have been so easy to make plans in the parliamentary agenda to table the bill ten days or two weeks earlier.

Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Suspension Act  Madam Speaker, as I follow the debate, it would appear that the situation here is not a vote so much to do something as opposed to maybe stopping something which may put us into a situation which would be unacceptable to Canadians. Members have asked for time to discuss and time allocation would restrict that. Is it not the intent of the overall motion and the process to allow more time for members throughout the entire House to have a fuller discussion about the criteria for boundary setting and to ensure that Canadians are going to be well represented in the House through these major changes?

Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Suspension Act  First of all, I must say, it is always distressing to see a government using a motion for time allocation, for closure, to put an end to debate. It is always, or nearly always, a distressing moment for parliamentarians to see this desire to gag a democratic debate. We did not support the motion, because it is the very essence of our parliamentary system that debate should take place without undue haste, and with as much for reflection and consideration as possible.

Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Suspension Act  Let us be very clear we are talking about ramrodding a bill, and we are talking about that. If we did not use time allocation on the bill, we would not have the opportunity to change those costly hearings that are going to take so much time and energy on the part of Canadians. I think that is an important point to know.

Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Suspension Act, 1994  This House has been recognized as being one without precedent by the fact that there are two new parties and 200 new members in this House. In light of time allocation being imposed upon this House, the reputation of all members is at stake. The vote on second reading of Bill C-18, an act to suspend the operation of the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act, is being restricted and, therefore, it will reflect-

Supply  The time allocated to questions and comments has now expired. My apologies, hon. colleagues. I was following the exchange between the member for Regina-Qu'Appelle and the parliamentary secretary too closely and I misread my list.