Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I don't think adopting the routine motion from the last Parliament on the question of witnesses is fair, because if we do that, it will mean that one of our members will never get to speak on the committee--never.
There are four rounds, and on each round one Conservative gets to speak, but there are five of us on the committee. It means that at every committee meeting, one of us is not going to be able to ask even one question. But Monsieur Godin will be able to ask four questions, and each member of the Bloc will be able to ask two questions, and one of the three Liberals on the committee will be able to ask a second question. It's not fair.
How can you have one member of the committee allowed to ask four questions, and then have the fifth Conservative member of the committee not even get to ask a question? It's not fair. I'm not suggesting that we split it right down the middle, that we get half the questions. But splitting it 25-25-25 is not fair, because it means that one of us is going to come to this committee for four hours a week and not be able to ask one question. Meanwhile, a member of the New Democrats will be able to ask four questions at each committee meeting, and each member of the Bloc will be able to ask two questions. I don't see the fairness in that.
You know, committee seats are apportioned so that each member gets to participate, but the routine motion, as we adopted it in the last Parliament, is not going to work, seeing as the seats in the House have been completely redistributed, and consequently, the proportionality on the committee has been redistributed.