Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, on electoral reform, all the Liberals have done is set up a process made up of politicians, by politicians, and for politicians. Now it turns out that Liberals are even charging Canadians to attend their town halls. What a sham. At the end of the day, decisions on t

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, if the minister wants to get to the bottom of it, she does not have to look very far. It is right there on the Liberal website. When the Liberals set up a process for electoral reform that is all about politicians and political parties and it leaves the final decisi

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, recently the Prime Minister told the Toronto Star that it is not up to any one person, even if it is the Prime Minister, to define exactly what the right system is, but as per usual, his actions do not match his words. If it is really not about politicians and their

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister keeps claiming that the electoral reform process is more complex than a yes or no in a referendum. Apparently, the Prime Minister is so arrogant that he thinks Canadians will not understand the choices, or maybe he is so arrogant that he thinks Can

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, it seems like the Minister of Democratic Institutions cannot even keep her talking points straight for a single answer. She has told the House that she wants to hear from Canadians, while in the same answer has stated that politicians should make the decision. Whic

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, in 2012, the Minister of Foreign Affairs said, “Precedent makes holding a referendum necessary in Canada: changing the voting system would require popular support.” If that minister actually believes his own words, will he try to convince the Prime Minister that Can

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, much like other times, we keep hearing about the interest of political parties and of politicians. The discussion on changing our most basic democratic institution is not about political parties nor about the interest of politicians. It is about the Canadian people.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, there is one thing that would make this completely democratic and that is to say at the end of the process, Canadians get to have a say. The composition of a committee does not matter. If it is a majority of Liberals, or if there is somehow agreement between two of t

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I am really sorry to hear of the member's confusion. I do not think there should be any confusion here. The bottom line is that it is not up to the Liberal government, it is not up to politicians, and it is not up to political parties to be able to decide for all Ca

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for that question. It gives me the opportunity to reiterate the most absolutely fundamental, important point in this whole debate, and it is the one that I am not hearing from any of the other parties in this House. I am not hearing about this beca

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to stand up for Canadians and for their right to have a direct say in any changes to the method of voting, to the method of our democracy. I have listened to a lot of speeches today, and what I have heard deeply concerns me. I am hearing a lot of talk

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I listened to the member's comments. I know him to be an honourable member and I am sure he is quite sincere. I know he believes in the position of his party in its desire for a proportional-type system. However, I think the concern many Canadians have right now is t

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Democratic Institutions claims that she wants to have a conversation, but instead seems to be doing a really good job of dancing around the real question. It is a question to which millions of Canadians are demanding an answer. It is also a question

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, the Liberals claim they want to consult, but the whole point of consultation is to ask people their opinion, not to have backroom deals with other political parties. What better way to get the opinion of every single Canadian than to ask them in a referendum? The Li

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, if the Minister of Democratic Institutions is actually interested in having a conversation on electoral reform, she cannot just keep repeating random verbs and nouns. She actually has to listen. Consultation, conversation, and listening are all great nouns and verbs.