I don't think we will argue this too strenuously, but we want to point out the arithmetic of this subcommittee. The intention is to mirror, as closely as we can, the makeup of the special committee in the subcommittee, which is already somewhat less proportionate on the government side than in the House of Commons, which the people of Canada elected.
When you look at the House of Commons as elected by the people of Canada, obviously there is a minority government. Obviously we understand that we want to keep that same balance on this committee, which all our committees, as they're struck, will maintain. However, we think the number six is actually quite fair and quite good.
The reality of the arithmetic is that when that committee meets there will be three members of the opposition and two members on the government side. It's three to two, with the chair obviously on the committee but not voting unless there is a tie. If there is a tie, that allows all members of the opposition to be engaged in this as opposed to just the official opposition. The other opposition parties are then able to express their desires as well and be equally accorded a position on this subcommittee.
We think it's very fair to ensure that we have representatives of all the parties with the weight that is important. We would argue that having two members of the government, three members of the opposition and a chair, who will not be able to sway the vote if all the opposition are on one side and the government is on the other side even if.... A tie is not going to happen unless one of the opposition parties supports another party, so we think it's a fair representation of the results of the last election, as indicated by the House of Commons. We think it affords an opportunity for the smaller parties to be fairly represented on the subcommittee.