Over the course of the last parliament, as a party, we have been the real opposition over the big issues of the day ... and the Conservatives over that period have themselves flip-flopped on so many of those matters,

Well, politically speaking, I have for years wanted to be inside the Liberal party as a member of Parliament. So this is an exercise in showing that I'm serious about being a Liberal.

Already they are making a difference in parliament. For the first time in years, the [ruling] National Democratic Party is feeling that it is not alone and that there's this dedicated, unified 20-percent bloc in the opposition.

When you bring good ideas forward in the context of a Parliament where no one party has been given the absolute authority to proceed, then you roll up your sleeves, you discuss, you negotiate.

How can this Parliament continue under the leadership of a Liberal Party whose ethical conduct voters deserve to judge and a Liberal Party that once worked with New Democrats to build medicare and now flatly rejects rules to protect that achievement?

It's our job as Liberal Democrats to be an effective opposition - and an increasingly tough one as well.