No, no, come on. That can't count against me. Forgive.
The point is really not a joke, and the point is to allow people an opportunity to explain.
In the north, it would be, “Well here's the challenge that we have. You can see the snow, and you can see the frost.” In the case of Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, the issues are going to be very different, but they're just as challenging, and if it leaves those Canadian citizens without the right to vote, that is as big a crime, and a shame, and a blight against our democracy. Anybody else in this country, whether it's a former prime minister, a former governor general, or the richest person in the country, their vote counts absolutely no more than that of any other Canadian who finds their way to a polling station and casts a ballot.
What's happening here is we're not showing them the respect they deserve, because if we did, the government would at least have agreed to negotiate a certain number. I won't throw a number out there, but it would be somewhere between none and what we've asked for. It would be a negotiated number.
Would it still satisfy all the concerns that I'm raising? No, Chair, no, but, it would be fairer. The government doesn't understand this so well, but fairness usually dictates that you give a little, we give a little, and we can both live with the decision. That's what's missing here. It didn't happen with the.... To show that kind of respect to other parliamentarians; that respect was not shown to Elections Canada, and by virtue of refusing to support my motion, they're not showing that respect to Canadians.