Sure.
My dissertation research—soon to be a book, hopefully—looks at these patterns of speech and how different parliamentarians speak differently about different issues.
The evidence really does show, at least when it comes to women—I haven't had the opportunity to look at representation of other groups—that women parliamentarians, regardless of party affiliation, are more likely to speak about women and raise issues that relate to women. Having in place measures that make it possible for women to participate in Parliament, and likely for other under-represented groups to participate in Parliament, brings in new perspectives.
On the question about whether we should think about having a hybrid option or the option to participate virtually, think about whether this can be used on a continued basis moving forward, now that we have been forced to think about how we do this in the context of the pandemic. Is this something we can leverage to improve how Parliament functions?
I think we can think about hybridity as the next stage in the evolution of things like having the lights flashing and the bells ringing when it's time to vote. It's the next thing of making Parliament more inclusive in the same way as we can think about having women's washrooms. This is another step that we can have. It's not necessarily in the physical space of Parliament Hill, but it's another tool that can be used to ensure that Parliament is more inclusive and diverse.