You make some very good points, Ms. Lapointe.
First, I want to clarify one thing in terms of women's involvement in politics. It goes without saying that we have women in our ranks. My comments were based on an article about a survey of all female provincial premiers across the country. That's where I got that statement from. They were asked about their experience and why so few women held those positions. Those women are the ones who said that the main obstacle to encouraging more women to get involved in politics was what they saw during the oral question period. I just wanted to share that with you.
Let me reiterate that this will also help productivity. I sincerely believe in courtesy and productivity.
Furthermore, you are saying that the motion is too substantial. However, if we are talking about making changes to create a parallel chamber, we will not be able to get around it being substantial. It's written down, and it's up to you to decide whether or not you want to proceed.
Finally, I completely agree with maintaining a balance with the electoral platform. We are elected as Liberal members of Parliament. As a Liberal member of Parliament, when the work was done, I asked for an appointment with our Prime Minister, who is also from the Liberal Party. I explained the process to him and asked him whether it could be a free vote. He did not answer 100% yes, considering that he had just been briefed on my entire proposal, but in his opinion, it met the criteria he had previously established to determine when it could be a free vote. It is not against our platform or the charter, and it is not a vote of confidence. That is what our Prime Minister told me.
So in terms of the balance that needs to be maintained, it is maintained in this case. I would ask you to check with our Prime Minister.