Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you, Senator.
Your comments are here. I've read them and listened to them. I know you've been around to a number of the provinces and you have spoken to a number of officials. We've read about that as well.
In your remarks and in your brief, you say that for the first time Canada has a prime minister publicly committed to the election of senators. I want to be clear. Have you talked to the Prime Minister, and has he said to you and in public that he is committed to the election of senators?
I say that because this bill is couched in terms of the selection of senators. Even Peter Hogg suggests that is the reason it is constitutional, because it is a selection that is subject to the Prime Minister's prerogative to accept or not.
The implication of your remark, sir, is that the Prime Minister has committed to the election of senators, and that the selection, which is the word used in Bill C-20, is in fact an election that the Prime Minister must respect. Is that your view of things?