Mr. Speaker, I do not see this matter of representation in terms of seats and in terms of furniture. If I felt that it was necessary to take over the Senate, for example, which might not be a bad idea, I would take it over and there are plenty of seats there.
The suggestion here is for six more seats. I am absolutely sure that we can find space for six more seats in this Chamber. I would think we could find more. The problem is not seats. It is whether, for modern times, an adjustment of six is worthwhile so that we can better serve the people of Canada.
The member is right. I expect this to be a phenomenally growing country in the next several decades and I expect Parliament of that day to deal with the conditions of that day. At the moment we are trying to deal with growth over a 10, 15 or 20 year period. I think six more seats in the two provinces I mentioned is a reasonable compromise to that.
The proposals come from a standing committee of this House. It is not something that has been brought forward to the government as has been the case in the past. We should respect our colleagues on the standing committees who struggled with this matter for a number of weeks and months.