I'm certainly happier with this than I was with the one circulated yesterday.
Just to give a little historical background, for those who haven't been here before, we've been consistently losing ground at this committee. Two Parliaments ago, each party had equal opportunity in both rounds. Then we got to a third round, when the size of the caucuses kicked in.
If you look at the history of committees over the history of Parliament, in committees we don't work so much on the number of members around the table; we make sure that each party gets equal opportunity to ask questions and participate.
The last time around we were dropped down, so we actually came in behind the Liberals on the second round. I'm sorry, we came in early in the round. Last time we were sixth; this time we're seventh.
I just want to say, Mr. Chair, that it was your fairness that made it work last time. You made sure, in managing the time of the committee, that we actually got to the NDP in the second round, and we did, and I was satisfied with that. We're now seventh on the list in the second round.
I guess I'm just making a point. I'm going to be okay with this as long as I can be assured by you that you will continue to operate in the same fashion and that there will be effort made--I notice that a Conservative member is going to get a spot after us in that second round--to ensure that we all get our fair shot at asking a question and that we are included in the second round. It didn't make any sense at all to me, in the list that was circulated yesterday, that we would be dropped completely from the second round, that we would get in on just this first round and then sit and watch for the rest of the proceedings. It didn't make any sense to me.
As long as you continue to operate in as fair a fashion as you have been, that will be acceptable to me.