Yes, thanks very much, Chair. I'll try to be very brief, because I know we have some interveners here.
This is something which I think might be of importance to all colleagues. I know that Nathan will be leaving in a few moments, but I'm sure his colleagues will be able to brief him.
As most of you know, and the chair certainly knows, last night was the deadline for Saskatchewan's submissions for those MPs who wanted to intervene in this process. I put one in, so I will be appearing before the procedure and House affairs committee to give my opinions on the new boundaries and some recommended changes.
Because I'm doing so, I feel it is appropriate that I recuse myself from the committee examination when it comes to the Saskatchewan boundaries, and for pretty obvious reasons. I think it would be a conflict for me on the one hand to be giving testimony saying that I think some changes should be made to the Saskatchewan boundaries, and on the other hand sitting here trying to develop a report based on my own testimony. I just wanted the committee to know that.
With respect to how the committee proceeds when it comes to other provinces, obviously I think that will have to be left up to the individuals. If there are members on this committee who will be making interventions, I think they themselves will have to determine whether or not they want to recuse themselves.
However, I would suggest one thing. Even though I'm recusing myself from the entire discussion on Saskatchewan, it's because Saskatchewan is relatively small population-wise, or I should say it's small in population compared with other provinces. I would think that if there are provinces with a denser population, such as Ontario, for example, and there are MPs on this committee who want to make an intervention, then I don't think—this is my opinion only, but I'll put it on public record—they necessarily have to recuse themselves from the entire provincial discussion, just because of the regional aspects that Ontario would have. Toronto would be a region, GTA would be a region, and so would eastern Ontario, and northern Ontario. So I think if they have been considering it, they might want to consider recusing themselves only for their particular region.
I will be recusing myself from the entire provincial discussion on Saskatchewan. I wanted to put that on public record.