I'm speaking in favour of the amendment because I'm quite concerned about representation of people, particularly on the Atlantic coast. If you look around the table, this committee is very fortunate that we have representation from every single province in this country--with the exception of Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland, and New Brunswick. As the only member on this committee from the entire Atlantic region, to be limited to one minute--that's if I get a minute, after my colleagues finish speaking--on every amendment and every clause, I think that's inherently unfair.
You are disenfranchising a huge part of this country and a part of this country that has a huge concern about this particular bill because of our recent deal between Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, our recently announced project for tidal power, which takes place in my riding. This bill could significantly impact the future of Atlantic Canada. I cannot sit here and support something that will limit Atlantic Canada's voice on this bill, a bill that is inherently strong and will impact, possibly negatively, the whole future of our region.
And as far as I know, Canada is still a democratic country. To give one member of a committee five minutes and to give our entire region one minute on every single clause and every single amendment I think is inherently unfair. Therefore, I'll be supporting this amendment.