Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak in favour of the government's motion for concurrence in the 51st report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs.
It should be noted that the bill included in the report before us is the result of the first use of the new procedure under the Standing Orders of the House of Commons whereby a committee can be instructed to prepare and bring in a bill. Standing Order 68(4) to (8) which was approved by the House on February 7, 1994 sets out a process for committees to draft legislation.
On April 19, 1994 the House of Commons adopted the following motion:
That the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs be instructed to prepare and bring in a bill, in accordance with Standing Order 68(5), respecting the system of readjusting the boundaries of electoral districts for the House of Commons by electoral boundaries commissions, and, in preparing the said bill, the committee be instructed to consider, among other related matters, the general operation over the past 30 years of the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment act, including:
(a) a formula to cap or reduce the number of seats in the House of Commons;
(b) a review of the adequacy of the present method of selection of members of electoral boundary commissions;
(c) a review of the rules governing and the powers and methods of proceeding of electoral boundary commissions, including whether those commissions ought to commence their work from the basis of making necessary alterations to the boundaries of existing electoral districts wherever possible;
(d) a review of the time and nature of the involvement of the public and the House of Commons in the work of electoral boundary commissions;
That the committee have the power to travel within Canada and to hear witnesses by teleconference; and
That the committee report no later than December 16, 1994.
The committee reported to the House earlier than that, on November 25, 1994 when the chair presented the 51st report of that committee to the House. As a new member of the House I am delighted that committees now have this power to develop and bring forward legislation of this and other types.
I would also like to thank the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada, Mr. Jean-Pierre Kingsley, his staff and the staff of the committee and all the witnesses who appeared before the committee, including fellow members of this House, for their expertise and advice which were invaluable in assisting the committee in its consideration of the various complex and sensitive issues with which that committee had to deal.
Turning to some of those issues, the report says: "Many members of the committee reluctantly came to the conclusion that a cap or reduction in the size of the House of Commons is not feasible at this time". Significant among the reasons given for that conclusion which appear to be counter to the instructions that the committee was given by the House-