Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements And Federal Post-Secondary Education And Health Contributions Act  Mr. Speaker, I listened carefully to the statement by my colleague from the Reform Party. I particularly noticed a remark which I found rather biased and uncomplimentary, I would say, towards Quebec, namely that Quebec received 45 per cent of equalization and suggesting that Quebec was the spoiled child of Canadian Confederation.

Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements And Federal Post-Secondary Education And Health Contributions Act  Since there are no questions or comments following what the spokesman for the Official Opposition said, I recognize the Reform Party. The hon. member for Calgary West.

Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements And Federal Post-Secondary Education And Health Contributions Act  And even the most committed federalists are starting to have doubts about the effectiveness of the tax system and Canadian fiscal federalism. I am a sovereigntist, like the Bloc Quebecois. To us, the best reform would be to give Quebec its sovereignty, and we cannot repeat this often enough. If one looks at the mix-up there is in standards, federal transfer payments, the necessity to respect national standards, duplications, overlapping, et cetera, only one solution comes to mind and that is the redefining of the relationship between Quebec and Canada, the establishment of a new relationship which would allow a sovereign Quebec to adopt consistent policies on income security, policies combining income security with education programs and manpower training; a new relationship where there would be only one stakeholder and not two who sometimes implement contradictory measures which cancel one another.

House Of Commons Standing Orders  Mr. Speaker, the member justified voting against the wishes of his constituents on the basis that they could judge him at election time. But the hon. member knows that there are many issues that come before the House during a session and that it is unreasonable for him to say that they could judge him on one or other issue of the hundreds that come before us.

House Of Commons Standing Orders  Mr. Speaker, to the member for Ottawa West, the leader of the Reform Party said that there was almost a form of recall when he said that Burke never got re-elected. One thing that concerns me as a new member of Parliament is that all of us, for whatever reason, want to reinvent laws, rules and regulations.

House Of Commons Standing Orders  Mr. Speaker, two or three points. I thank the member for his question. First of all, on recall if you set these safeguards high enough and strongly enough you can ensure that the instrument is not abused so it is not accessibly costly. On the second point, I would ask the members to consider the cost of having an unacceptable member of Parliament who will not or cannot represent your views.

House Of Commons Standing Orders  On different issues I have watched and read in the newspaper, we have seen shameless vote buying. What I would like to know right now is where the leader of the Reform Party thinks the common ground is between free vote and responsible government.

House Of Commons Standing Orders  Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for that question. He hits on a very pertinent point. I believe this free vote convention that we have suggested covers that common ground. It gives the members the freedom to kill a bill or a portion of a bill, but when they do that it reverts back to asking the House if it wanted to kill this bill or this portion of a bill, or did it actually want to kill the entire administration because it has no confidence it it.

House Of Commons Standing Orders  I would love to debate at length why I disagree fundamentally with the member for Calgary Southwest, the leader of the Reform Party. Let me come to the subject of this particular bill before us because as I see the context of this bill, for nine years we have had a government that fundamentally did not believe in the role of government in society and therefore had a great deal of difficulty governing well and had a great deal of difficulty governing with respect for the people of Canada and their opinions.

House Of Commons Standing Orders  Mr. Speaker, I should make clear to the member that I am not talking about turning members of Parliament into a voting machine where all they do is go home on the weekend, count noses on an issue and come back here and stick up their hands or not. I am not talking about that. I agree with the member that there are lots of issues where the relationship between the member and his constituents has to be one of dialogue.

House Of Commons Standing Orders  Speaker, I wish to thank the hon. member for Calgary Southwest for his rather enlightening comment on what the Reform Party's position would be with respect to recall. This reminds any budding student of history of the famous debate that took place some two centuries ago in the 1790s when the member for Bristol in England in the other Parliament discussed the various pros and cons of the system which the member, some generations later, has just suggested.

House Of Commons Standing Orders  Mr. Speaker, the short answer to the member's question is yes, up to a point. But just having freer debate or freer discussion in my view is not enough. It has to be carried that one step further where if, as a result of the discussion here, one comes to a conclusion somewhat different than one's party or one's constituents come to, that one would have the freedom to exercise it.

House Of Commons Standing Orders  Mr. Speaker, because this is such an important issue and we have the leader of the Reform Party who spent many hours and years working on this issue maybe we could have the unanimous consent of the House to continue questions.

House Of Commons Standing Orders  I take it there is unanimous consent. Is there with the Reform Party?

House Of Commons Standing Orders  I am quite concerned about that kind of push driving referendums. I would like to hear the opinion of the leader of the Reform Party on that.