Mr. Speaker, speaking on behalf of the Official Opposition and of all my colleagues, it is a pleasure and indeed an honour to offer you my sincere congratulations on your well-deserved election to the important position of Speaker of the House of Commons. It was an arduous undertaking.
I also wish to take this opportunity to thank all the members who expressed an interest in this position and who campaigned with the courtesy and generosity appropriate to the circumstances.
I may say that the members of this House have acknowledged your great experience and also your personal qualities which will be particularly useful in the context in which we will be working and where we all hope to maintain the standards of a democratic debate, a debate which may be heated, as controversial ideas are raised, but which should never descend to the level of personal attacks, something which we must avoid.
We understand the significance of your duties, which include defending the rights of members and especially the rights and integrity of Parliament and the parliamentary system, so that we can engage in a thorough analysis of the major issues facing us today in Quebec and Canada.
Finally, I can assure you that throughout, you will have the full co-operation of the Bloc Quebecois.
I would like to say in English that we also pledge full and total co-operation in the fulfilment of your so important task.
We also thank very much those candidates, our colleagues, who showed enough interest in the function to submit their names as candidates in this very important election we had today. It was a courageous thing to do. They will retain our full confidence in their work as members of Parliament.