moved for leave to introduce Bill S-224, An Act to amend the Parliament of Canada Act (vacancies).
Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to introduce Bill S-224.
It is my pleasure to speak in support of this bill, which is beautiful in its simplicity, to compel the government to fill Senate vacancies that are hindering the representation of many provinces, including my own. A second part of the bill indicates that the Prime Minister shall call byelections in the order in which the seats of the House become vacant, so that no party may play checkerboard politics with the representation of people whose ridings are not represented by a member.
I do hope the House will see, in a non-partisan way, that this is a wonderful bill to modernize and regularize the representation of all people in all ridings, in both Houses, for all of Canada.
(Motion agreed to and bill read the first time)