Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Senator Brown, for coming and being a witness here. I think it's an understatement to say you're a patient man. It's been a very long time that you've been involved in this.
I joined the Reform Party back in 1991, and you'd already been involved in writing on this subject for a number of years at that time.
I wanted to get your view on a couple of things that have come up in our discussions.
We've had, of course, a number of witnesses here already, and there's been some talk among some of the witnesses about the danger of having elected senators, whether they're elected directly or whether, as the bill proposes, they're pre-selected in terms of advice or recommendation to the Prime Minister, who can then advise the Governor General--whatever the case. The thought is that the electoral process will cause senators to become more partisan, whereas they are currently less partisan than their opposite numbers in the House of Commons, that is to say the MPs.
I'm just wondering if you find the Senate to be less partisan than the House of Commons.