Electoral Reform committee  There are two things that I have been aware of because I spearheaded them. One of them was the Parliament to campus program that was run by the Canadian Association of Former Parliamentarians. Unfortunately, that program was cut off because of lack of funding a few years ago, but

Electoral Reform committee  It's absolutely fundamental. Again, Professor Russell indicates that Ontario is one of the few provinces that has a civics course required in high school. Ontario is one of only four provinces that teaches history in high school. We have a lot of work to do to educate our populat

Electoral Reform committee  The answer is no, because it's not representative. Typically, the people who will attend those meetings are in favour of the change. Those who are satisfied with the current system—the vast majority of people—won't go to the trouble of taking part in that kind of exercise, or at

Electoral Reform committee  It's up to them to defend their views, their position, against the backdrop of a referendum, and to prove to Canadians that the system they are advocating is better than the one that has been in place for 225 years. It's up to them to convince us, to convince Canadians, and I wis

Electoral Reform committee  The Jenkins?

Electoral Reform committee  Quite frankly, I didn't follow the results of that commission closely. What I followed was the referendum that was held afterwards, and that's what mattered to me. I think the British did it correctly. They organized a committee, they put the question to the people, and they got

Electoral Reform committee  I think you asked the question about, what can we do, or it might have been your neighbour, to better connect MPs to their constituents.

Electoral Reform committee  Indeed.

Electoral Reform committee  Here's my point. They're no longer there.

Electoral Reform committee  He's practically no longer there.

Electoral Reform committee  My apologies. Again, I'm simply pointing to the reality. In jurisdictions with PR, you're going to naturally have more people emerging to represent particular interests. They're not interested in looking after other people's interests because they're guaranteed a certain perce

Electoral Reform committee  I wish you good luck in trying to sell that to the Canadian people.

Electoral Reform committee  The idea of having two classes of MPs I don't think will jive with our political culture, where you have one class of MPs who will cater to the needs of the constituents and another class of MPs who are always on the list and who are always going to be there. I think Canadians li

Electoral Reform committee  If I can I add one more thing, I urge you to take a look at the Senate. Why not use the Senate as a House that would compensate for the distortions inside the House of Commons? Why not have more women in the Senate dictate to the Prime Minister—

Electoral Reform committee  The Senate is a house of Parliament.