Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Mister Minister, I do want to commend the work that you and your staff have done. I think we all watched, kind of nervously, depending on what part of the country we were from. I'm going to say that I sense unbounding enthusiasm around the committee for this direction, and I think it will go well.
I do want to take exception, and I'm surprised at Mr. Garneau's presentation...the counting was done with magic beans or something. I come from one of those small provinces that would be affected. We have to remember that this country is spread out over a huge domain. Geography and distance are incredibly important considerations, and membership, therefore, is particularly important to a lot of us. I would have expected Mr. Garneau would have shared that, regarding Quebec--to watch it be devastated under the formula.
What I would like you to specifically answer, as best you can, which he would not answer, is how you keep 308 seats and redistribute seats from others--without doing it from others, because that's how I interpreted what he said.
If you can get right at the number thing, I think I'd like to have it on record and share it with our residents back home, to make sure we understand where the Liberal Party is coming from in this important endeavour.