Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, I have no notes at my disposal. Let us review what we are here to do. Canadians have elected us to come to this place and to represent them with dignity and with full co-operation. That is what we are doing today. A committee will come together, made up of all parl

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, today is a great day. I am looking forward to the vote following question period where we all put our confidence in a parliamentary committee made up of all parties whose responsibility it is to reach out to all our constituents and bring their voices and their value

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, as always, we remain open and receptive to respectful and reasonable arguments. Today, we take step one of a long journey for which we are all responsible to ensure that as we move forward toward modernizing our electoral system and our democratic institutions, the v

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, the process of electoral reform requires the attention and the care of all members of the House. Today we will be voting on establishing an all-party committee whose responsibility it will be is to reach out to our constituents, particularly those who have not been

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, our government is entering electoral reform with an open mind. As the member opposite well knows, the amended motion that the NDP put on the table late last week allows for the committee to investigate ways of determining how to engage the broad support of Canadians

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, it appears that we have found common ground. The one thing that we can all agree on in this House is that is crucial to the success of us being able to modernize our electoral system is first hearing from Canadians. That is why we committed to bringing forward an al

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, the former government did not consult Canadians or experts or Elections Canada on the changes they brought forward through the Fair Elections Act. I totally understand why bringing a committee forward to hear from Canadians is a strange concept to them. We have ent

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, our commitment is to hear directly from Canadians. Our hope is that all 338 members in this House will advocate on behalf of their constituents and contribute constructively to the substance of electoral reform. I hope that the mood tomorrow, with the vote tomorrow,

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, we have said from the very beginning that we will not move forward on any reform to our electoral system without the broad support of Canadians. This means it is vitally important for the special all-party committee to begin its work of hearing from Canadians first-

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, I will repeat what I said in this place on Thursday and so many other times before, that there is at least a three-step process for us to undertake. The first step is to establish the committee and have it go out and hear from Canadians. The second step is for us to

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, today we did something that is a little different for the members opposite. We reached out across the aisle and worked collaboratively with the parties opposite to enhance the process. We need to move this debate away from a debate on process and get to the substanc

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, when the former government decided to bring forward the Fair Elections Act, did the Conservatives consult with parliamentarians? Did they consult with Canadians? Did they hold a referendum? Did they include the voice of the Chief Electoral Officer and include his fee

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, after 10 years of undermining our democratic institutions, the party opposite was asked to stay in opposition. Canadians provided us with a mandate for change. They asked us to do politics differently. They asked us to work collaboratively with other parties. They

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, on October 19, Canadians made a choice. They mandated us to govern this country in an inclusive and responsible manner. On May 10, I put forward a motion to begin the work of hearing from Canadians what their thoughts are. We did so with the complete intent of hear

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, days ago I met, along with the Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities, with the Elections Canada advisory group on persons with disabilities. During this conversation, we were asked to bring their voices to this place. We were told that the very act of vot