Liberal 7, thank you.
I was asking for two years, which I would secede if we get this done. I don't need to go through for a year difference. I think that's fine. All the Conservatives are really asking for here is having a quicker first review of the legislation the first time it goes through. That's really important there because after that it's five years. We have a chance, then, after three years. I don't think it's going to be this Parliament but it will be the next Parliament at the beginning that will do so. That was kind of my difference of it but I understand that by the time this actually gets through, gets implemented, and everything—and I'm going to walk through that—all that we're talking about in the debate here is two years, a two-year difference between what the Liberals are considering and what the Conservatives are putting forth here, and for the NDP it would have been three years. We're not off by much with regard to these amendments and motions. They're very clear.
Why do I think it's important? For example we have these issues. Obviously the minister thought this was important enough. He came to this committee and he presented us with testimony. He said, “Achieving greater diversity on boards and in senior management is an achievable and realistic goal.” He also said, “Under-representation of different segments of our population and business is a drag on Canada's bottom line.” So it's not simply the right thing to do, but it is also good for business.
As well, we've had committee members here on the previous definition on diversity. I won't read that because it's a little bit different, but we've had these political statements made, including most recently with Minister Bains with regard to the inclusion of International Women's Day and diversity. He issued a press release, again, and there was a media advisory before it, that, “Canada benefits when more women reach the highest levels of achievement.”
I won't read it again because I've already read that into testimony, but I thought it was interesting that it has gone out.
What the Conservatives are proposing here is basically a three-year instead of a five-year review. That is important because we can have that review more quickly and in a reasonable time. I prefer the two years, myself, but let's walk through this.
Say, for example, this bill gets passed. This is why I was talking earlier about our schedule and I thought it would be important for us to meet. Let's assume that we can get this done in March, or it might be at the end of this meeting, or it might be at the beginning of the next week when we come back, but we still have a bunch of weeks that we break so we go into April.
I think that in April, if I'm correct, we have two weeks off in April. Is that not two weeks for constituency?