Absolutely.
There was a group of political scientists who got together and made a proposal early in the process, and they made some representation. It was interesting that later there was an article in the Kindersley West Central Crossroads newspaper, where one of the spokesmen for them basically said that, give or take a few adjustments, the boundaries have essentially been drawn up close to the suggestions we made. They made the suggestions early in the process. It didn't seem to matter what the discussion was, the commission locked in on those, and it has basically not changed its position since then. They did adjust a few boundaries after that, but they did not deal with the structure, the systems they had put in place.
I just find it interesting, because a comment from the spokesman of this group shows they really don't understand what's going on outside of the city they're involved in. He talks about my riding and says:
Also I think—and also Cypress Hills—Grassland is a big riding, and I haven't heard any—in the past since it's been in existence, any complaints about lack of representation..
—which I appreciate, of course—
...so you could easily grow some of the rural ridings not quite as big as Cypress Hills—Grasslands but somewhat as big as Cypress Hills—Grasslands and not have a problem with geographical manageability.
Anybody who lives in a riding similar to ours understands that this person clearly does not have any idea of what he's talking about. I made my presentation. At the end of my presentation to them, I said, if you came into my riding today and we were to drive to the four corners to hold our meetings, you would get back to the same point 24 hours and over 1,000 kilometres later—just to get back to the point where you came in. Clearly, working out of the city, they don't have an understanding of a rural riding.
Secondly, they did make the point that “...in terms of information technology, it's easier than ever for rural MPs to connect with their constituents....” That's true on one level, but on the other level we're being told, as Mr. Ritz pointed out, that Skype should work for us in a rural riding. The reality is that it is not practical. I had a young lady who made a presentation in our area, and when Judge Mills asked her how she wanted to see her MP, her answer was: “I want an appointment. When I come to see my MP, I want an appointment. I don't want an e-mail. I don't want a phone call. I don't want to Skype.”
It was interesting. He referenced immigration as an urban issue, and he clearly did not understand the reality of what's happening in rural Saskatchewan. I looked at his testimony. I was astounded by that, because presently immigration is the biggest file in my riding, which would surprise many people. It's a commonality between urban and rural areas.
They also said that there are no “similar communities of interest” around the two cities. His comment was, “Saskatchewan now is a rural and an urban province.” That, again, clearly demonstrates a failure to understand what's going on around Regina, with the Global Transportation Hub, and with the incredible growth that's taking place in the communities that are developing around Saskatoon. I guess I come back to the fact that we still have an economy where the rural areas are tied to the city areas, the urban areas, and those communities of interest exist.
Judge Mills said at one point that the communities of interest were the second most critical factor they were considering, but they seemed to have completely moved away from that and abandoned the idea.
If you take a look at the map, for example, Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan goes from south of Moose Jaw up to just south of Humboldt. So you've got things going on between Moose Jaw and Regina, and the MP is going to have to represent Dundurn, which is right up by Humboldt.
If you look at Humboldt—Warman—Martensville—Rosetown, Rosetown and Humboldt are in the same riding. The MP is going to have to go through one or two or three other ridings just to get to the other side of his own riding in order to cut that distance off.
I'm willing to represent a large rural riding. I think it's just crazy that we set a process in place that makes other ridings have to expand to come to those kinds of sizes as well.