Thank you, Madam Chair.
I think that was a very good line of questioning. I'm really interested in learning more about growth. Although it may be slower, there is still growth. I'm surprised by that. I didn't realize there was growth happening in northern Ontario. I appreciate the offer to increase staffing in my riding. If only you had the power. I wish I could take you up on that.
My constituency riding work is very intense, but after listening to all of the panellists today, I sympathize with how difficult representing northern rural ridings must be, with having to travel such large distances. I know we don't serve geography necessarily, but the smaller communities you serve are so far apart from each other, and in order to serve them, you have to travel through those geographic locations to get to them and to listen to them.
I would love to learn from the members who didn't get to speak so far.
Ms. Lapointe, Mr. Serré and Mr. Sheehan, could you let me know what the growth has been like in your ridings, what challenges you find in terms of how many communities you serve and how long it takes you to get to those communities? It was also mentioned by Mrs. Hughes that there hadn't been consultations that were accessible to the public in your areas. Could you shed some more light on where the consultations were located in your ridings and whether there were virtual options? Were there issues with the virtual options? This is about the many challenges your regions must face.
Go ahead, Mr. Serré.