I hadn't heard that proposal, but I think it's an exceptional proposal, Chair, and a way we can make Parliament that much more family friendly.
A couple of weeks ago, my daughter was on the front lawn of Parliament blowing bubbles. She had her bubble machine out, and she was having a whale of a time. She's a little over two and a half, and she knows that this is Daddy's office, but perhaps a few years from now, she'll understand the significance of her blowing bubbles on the front lawn of Parliament.
Going back, that's my family's perspective, and others have different viewpoints. Those who have school-age children are more eager to return to their ridings as quickly as they can, because that's where their families are. I'm lucky that they can come with me. Others don't have that opportunity.
Others have different considerations as well. Travel is one of them. Acknowledging the diversity of viewpoints and diversity of family situations I think is essential in this debate. I think these interventions, operating under the Simms' protocol, are exceptionally important, so I appreciate these interventions.
Briefly, before I move on, my staff was kind enough to look at my schedule in November. From November 5 to November 10, leading up to Remembrance Day, I had 14 different remembrance events, whether they were school visits or at Legions. That's in addition to the other meetings I took that week. For us, especially in the rural communities, that week prior to Remembrance Day encourages the opportunity to remember those who have served our country. This year, it fell on a Saturday and we missed a lot of those opportunities to encourage remembrance. I thank my staff, Mr. Keith Mitchell, for reminding me of that.
I think perhaps this is relevant. Ms. Kwan brought up the concept of staff who work for us on the Hill. We need to be mindful of that going forward. I know that often I need to send my staff home at the end of the day. They are often still in the office at eight or nine o'clock at night, and I try to tell them that we operate under certain labour laws and would like to see our staff respect those as much as possible. I don't want to burn out my staff. It is an issue when we sit late, when we attend committees. I am lucky—and I think he's still there—to have my staff sitting behind me. They serve us in our duties as parliamentarians.
I think it is a discussion that must be had, because it isn't just the 338 MPs. It's our staff. It's the administration that serves this place. I think that's a discussion.
I hope that when we get to the heart of the Standing Orders and the discussion about where we go forward that we're able to hear from some of the people who—