House Of Commons Standing Orders  Speaker, to the Leader of the Opposition or who would like to be, that would be fair to say would it not, I would like to ask the leader of the Reform Party about the referendum idea. I am quite concerned. On the surface it sounds very nice and appealing to some people. However, on examination it is far too simplistic. This is part of my question, but I must share a little of this rationale.

House Of Commons Standing Orders  Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for her question and for that brief promotion to Official Opposition leader. I agree with the thinking behind the hon. member's question that unless there is an educational component and intelligent public debate that goes along with referenda that they are not as effective a mechanism for decision making as they should be.

House Of Commons Standing Orders  Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the member's question and the dilemma that freer votes can create in that respect. What I am saying, and I am sure this is the member's experience, that issues will come along where the party line is quite clear and he is absolutely aware that his constituents on that particular issue want him to do something different than his party.

House Of Commons Standing Orders  It has caused an abuse of the privileges of members who come here to speak on behalf of their constituents. I want to ask the leader of the Reform Party if he believes there is a happy medium between complete direct democracy for every member and the party discipline system. I have noticed in the few votes we have had in this House that it appears that either they are birds of a feather flocking together or-

House Of Commons Standing Orders  Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for her question. I might not have made myself as clear as I should have. I was not saying that recall was the most important thing in the minds of Canadian voters. I was saying that if asked about these direct democracy measures, referenda, citizens' initiative, freer votes and recall, at either public meetings or through surveys we have always found recall to be the highest priority of those four direct democracy measures.

House Of Commons Standing Orders  I can assure the hon. member and all members on both sides of the House that we will be looking very carefully at possible reforms in that area.

House Of Commons Standing Orders  We know he has distinguished himself as a member of the opposition but now that he is sitting on the government benches it is very important for him to understand where his role is now in terms of government and how these new reforms will help him along.

House Of Commons Standing Orders  Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for answering my questions from this morning. He also inquired as to how I felt we could restructure the committee system. In keeping with the rules of the House I would like to reword my answer into a question so it will be allowed.

House Of Commons Standing Orders  I also want to say that I will support any measure to enhance the status of the work done by MPs, as well as to improve Parliament's effectiveness. I have a question for the hon. member: When you looked at parliamentary reform and drafted the proposal which you tabled in this House, did you take into account the experiences of the United States, France and Great Britain?

House Of Commons Standing Orders  We also looked at the way things are done in France, and in other countries which have a British parliamentary system similar to ours. Parliamentary reform is of course an ongoing process which is applied every day. Indeed, without realizing it, we often reach unanimous agreements which can later become regulations. Consequently, I fully agree with the hon. member for Bourassa that we must continue to try to make the role of MPs more effective, so that we can adequately represent those who elect us every four or five years.

House Of Commons Standing Orders  Mr. Speaker, the hon. member mentioned the whip and the whip's powers, so to speak, and the government does recognize free votes to a certain extent right now. Keeping that in mind, I would ask the hon. member if the government would consider allowing free votes in the standing committees including free votes for chair and for vice-chair rather than have the whip tell the members who they will vote for for chair and vice-chair?

Petitions  These petitioners are calling on Parliament to recognize that crimes of violence against a person are serious and abhorrent to society. They ask that the Criminal Code of Canada, the Bail Reform Act, 1992, and the Parole Act be amended accordingly. These petitioners hope that with a new government we will quickly see major changes in Canada's justice system.

Multiculturalism  The Official Opposition party is so narrowly focused in its own little world that I am afraid it misses the much larger point and the larger reality that most Canadians are living in. The position of the Reform Party I also find most unfortunate. They suggest we should focus our efforts on the pride in being Canadians. I have always felt that my support of multiculturalism was my way of celebrating being Canadian.

Michael Drake  Mr. Speaker, my question is to the minister of immigration. On December 15, 1993, I sent a letter to the minister urging him to remember and to recognize that convicted child molester Michael Drake posed a serious enough threat to warrant detention but was released on bail and is still out on bail today.

Recall Legislation  Mr. Speaker, my question is for the right hon. Prime Minister. During this past weekend a meeting attended by more than 500 people in the riding of Markham-Whitchurch-Stouffville resulted in a demand that the government investigate the circumstances surrounding the election of the sitting member.