moved for leave to introduce Bill C-385, an act to amend the Constitution Act, 1867.
Madam Speaker, it is an honour for me to propose a private member's bill. It seeks to impose a cap on the number of members of the House of Commons at 301, which will be the new number following the next election.
The bill respects all existing constitutional guarantees to such provinces as Prince Edward Island and does not seek in any way to ignore the reality of a place like Labrador where there are some 30,000 people on an enormous land mass. The bill proposes to limit the number or cap it at the new number of 301 following the next election because common sense would indicate that we simply
cannot continue to add members to the House of Commons continually as it would become an unmanageable size.
I am pleased to propose this bill today and I look forward to engaging in debate on it when that time comes.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed.)