Madam Speaker, I do not think the hon. member is correct in saying that I have changed my position. I have already articulated my position that I would not want to see an increase in the number of members of the House of Commons. That was in my remarks when I began.
The hon. member obviously has never had the responsibility of piloting a constitutional amendment through this House. Neither have I. He probably never will have. If the member thinks that we can simply pass a statute in this House that says that the House of Commons is capped at 295 seats, he is mistaken. It is much more than that.
First, even if we were to say that we want it to be 295, we have to find a new formula to address the needs of all provinces, just as this member prefaced his remarks by saying that we have to be fair to his province of B.C. We have to be fair to all the provinces including those with declining populations that are going to say: "We want a floor; you can add more seats somewhere else but you are not going to take any more away from us".
The government has to find a new formula. It has to pass a constitutional amendment and get it approved by all provinces or by two-thirds in a process that will take a number of years. While I am willing to embark on the process, it certainly is not going to happen this month, this year, in this Parliament.
I support the principle and the objective.