Thank you, everybody.
For all the people on the committee and all the people in the audience who are still here, first off, I think we're all here because we believe in democracy, and for almost 150 years the best country on earth has enjoyed a working democracy that has largely brought power to the best party that has best appealed to the largest number of Canadians. It's simple, it works, and it has led to effective government.
I know if I'm a member of the Green Party, the Communist Party, the Marijuana Party, the Marxist-Leninist Party, the Pirate Party, the Rhinoceros Party or any one of the 19 federal parties that exist, there are basically two ways that I can change the success of my party. I can either change the rules about how we count your vote, or I can change my platform to appeal to more Canadians. Naturally, I believe that if I want better results, I'll work harder and I'll get those better results. Despite that, we find ourselves here today because our governing party wants to change our electoral system to something they believe is called more fair proportional representation.
We can look to other countries to see how it has worked there. We can suppose what this may look like if we replicate this here in Canada, but the facts are that no one knows. It doesn't matter how much of an expert you are. No one can say with any degree of certainty....
I would just ask everybody on the committee if you wouldn't mind paying attention. If you're on your phone, I find that extremely rude.