December 12, 1978 (30th Parliament, 4th Session)

Mr. Johnston (Westmount):

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, would the hon. member for Grenville-Carleton (Mr. Baker) permit a question? I might add, Mr. Speaker, that there is no one in the House with a fresher mandate than mine. The question I would like to ask relates to the hon. member's support of the principle of referenda. Unfortunately I was not here to listen to the remarks of the hon. member for Kingston and the Islands (Miss MacDonald), but I gather that it is the position of the official opposition that the principle of the bill is acceptable, but that the scope of the questions which can be asked under the bill is too great. That is my interpretation of what I understood this evening and, if I may, I would like to have the hon. member's response to that. Having read clause 3(1) it struck me that the scope was really quite narrow.