Thank you, Madam Chair.
Mr. Minister, Bill C-20, as it is presented, provides for electing senators on a provincial basis, and, it seems to me, also under the aegis and the control of the federal government, because it says, among other things, that the elections to the second chamber—let us call it the Senate—could take place at the same time as the elections to the House of Commons, in each province and according to standards set by the federal government. This is one of the possibilities that the bill provides. The federal government determines the number of electors and the federal government, or at least the Prime Minister, would also choose, from among the elected senators, the persons whose names would then be proposed to the Governor General.
Thus, I think that this provides an interesting combination of procedures. However, I am digressing. Given the fact that the federal level seems to be in control of electing senators to the chamber of the provinces, would you envisage giving a much bigger role to the provinces in electing candidates to the Senate in each province, as Alberta did, for example, during the two past elections it held for senators?