If that were the case, you wouldn't have to leave a town like Clavet, less than 20 minutes outside of Saskatoon, head two and a half hours to the city of Moose Jaw to see your member of Parliament.
Historical boundaries were also not taken into consideration because, historically, Saskatchewan has had urban-rural hybrid ridings in Regina and Saskatoon. The manageable geographic size of ridings were not taken into consideration. The riding of Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan begins east of Saskatoon, wraps around the southwestern part of the city of Regina, and that can be up to a three- to four-hour drive.
The reality is that Moose Jaw is not the size of Vancouver or Calgary. In larger cities, where there are urban-only ridings in the core of the cities, as you move outward most ridings become a blend of urban and rural. Cities grow, so it makes sense to have hybrid ridings on the outskirts to absorb the growth.
Saskatoon is one of the fastest-growing cities in Canada. The overall growth of Saskatchewan wasn't so great to increase the number of seats. The provincial quotient could easily be attained by adjusting the existing boundaries. Supporters of the new boundaries keep talking about not being represented effectively, but during all of my three or four campaigns—four, maybe five—I have never gone to a door where they told me they were not adequately served. Perhaps the commission does not understand the role of the federal members of Parliament.
The majority of federal issues are not exclusively urban or rural, and I ask the committee to understand that. For example, immigration seems to be considered an urban-only issue, but many rural industries utilize a temporary foreign worker program to address the shortage of skilled workers in Saskatchewan. Using urban versus rural issues, as federal electoral boundaries go, doesn't really make much sense. Many of the urban or rural issues cited by proponents of the boundaries are provincial or.... During the hearings, they did not understand the federal role. The boundaries spoke about provincial-regional issues such as transit. Even one of the students was asked about bus passes.
The report of the commission states in item 3 that they do not accept the argument that the creation of solely urban ridings in Saskatoon and Regina will draw a wedge. I dispute that. The concept of community of interest in some urban settings, particularly in larger cities given the high rate of mobility in their populations, remains problematic.
In closing, I would like to say that the existing boundaries should be respected. The reasons for change for the sake of change should be discouraged. Again, I would like to see the boundaries remain the same. It is the riding of Blackstrap that is hugely affected by the redrawing of the maps. The city lights of Saskatoon will now see the city lights of Regina, and it wraps around Moose Jaw. So it is a very difficult riding to manage.