Evidence of meeting #64 for Procedure and House Affairs in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was commission.
A recording is available from Parliament.
12:30 p.m.
NDP
Alexandrine Latendresse NDP Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC
Perfect.
I want to emphasize that, in this case, we are talking about a gap of 22%. We collected proposals in Alberta or in other provinces with a higher population, where the gap was 10%, but the number of people going from one riding to another was much higher. From the point of view of representation, that has to be taken into account. Even if we're talking about 22% here, only about 6,000 people, according to you, would change ridings...
12:30 p.m.
NDP
Alexandrine Latendresse NDP Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC
I think we have to take that into account as well. It remains below the set limit. I don't see any problem, especially if we take Mr. Lukiwski's comments into account. Everyone agrees.
12:30 p.m.
Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe, CPC
Very well.
Even if the riding next door, that of my colleague, included about 78,000 people, its size is enormous. If there is greater population density, we believe that it's more efficient from the point of view of representation.
12:30 p.m.
NDP
Alexandrine Latendresse NDP Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC
Absolutely. We're also taking into account geographic size.
12:30 p.m.
NDP
March 7th, 2013 / 12:30 p.m.
Liberal
Dominic LeBlanc Liberal Beauséjour, NB
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I want to thank my colleague Robert for his presentation. As a courtesy, he discussed it with me before he filed the submission with our committee.
Mr. Chairman, I would suggest, and I hope Robert agrees, that two criteria in the law are effective representation and community of interest. Obviously the population variance is the third. Certainly, if you read the New Brunswick commission report, they very much privileged the arguments of community of interest and effective representation.
That's why, for example, they left our colleague from Miramichi at almost negative 25%, because they thought, in their judgment, that those two factors, in the words of the New Brunswick commission's final report, were more important than a strictly numerical calculation in a province that's largely rural with a number of growing cities, as is the case for Mr. Goguen.
If community of interest is an important criterion, what Mr. Goguen is suggesting makes eminent sense. This is the first time a portion of the city of Moncton has been added to the rural riding I represent. The only possible explanation must be that they wanted to achieve a reasonable parity between our two ridings. The community of interest is so strong. The workplace migrations are so strong; the school boards, the hospital boards, and the social and cultural activities are very much with Mr. Goguen's community of Moncton. I think they can be certainly as effectively represented by Mr. Goguen as they would be if I were their member of Parliament.
I didn't submit a request to appear, so I've just appeared from the committee table. I didn't recuse myself, as Tom did on another matter.
Mr. Chairman, I wanted to put this on the record because I think Robert makes a very commonsensical, eminent argument. The people in those communities told me, when they realized this was the proposal in the second report.... It was not in the first report, as was noted in response to Alexandrine's question. They will be very surprised on election day to realize they're voting with rural communities an hour away by car when the other side of the Trans-Canada Highway is the riding they had always been involved in.
I'm wondering if Mr. Goguen would agree with that very logical argument I've just made.
12:35 p.m.
Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe, CPC
It's hard to defeat logic. Basically it's precisely that. All the factors have been made. You have a huge riding. It actually probably bolsters your effectiveness of representation to not have to.... So it's a win-win situation.
12:35 p.m.
Liberal
12:35 p.m.
Conservative
Scott Armstrong Conservative Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley, NS
My question is for either one of our witnesses.
12:35 p.m.
Some hon. members
Oh, oh!
12:35 p.m.
Conservative
Scott Armstrong Conservative Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley, NS
Dominic, where are your offices in your riding?
12:35 p.m.
Liberal
12:35 p.m.
Conservative
12:35 p.m.
Liberal
Dominic LeBlanc Liberal Beauséjour, NB
It's a 20- to 25-kilometre run from where these people are, whereas Robert's office would be 15 minutes, three to four kilometres.
12:35 p.m.
Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe, CPC
Fifteen minutes on a bus, and depending on how you drive, ten minutes.
