Electoral Reform committee  Yesterday, I heard the minister explain to you why $8 million or $10 million had been allocated to her department, the Privy Council Office, and $300,000 was allocated to you. I think that the committee should play a leading role. I agree that the government has a responsibility,

Electoral Reform committee  I cannot answer in 10 seconds. Could I answer this question in the second round?

Electoral Reform committee  I wanted to frame it in those terms because that should be the reality. If there are five candidates and you must vote for one of the five, I don't believe in compulsory voting in that situation. I made that very clear. In the year 2000, when I expressed myself in the media—and

Electoral Reform committee  As we say in Latin, tempus fugit. In practice, you have a very tight schedule. I grant you that, and I agree. However, as members of a Parliamentary committee, you have access to everything that has been done in Canada by various citizen assemblies, to the systems they considered

Electoral Reform committee  I also referred to Canadians in my comment, Mr. Deltell. I should have perhaps mentioned it first, but I was thinking logically in terms of the procedure you have to follow here. That's all. When it comes to ways to find out how Canadians feel, we are in a representative democr

Electoral Reform committee  There are systems that would allow for some kind of direct rapport. What I'm saying to you is you must weigh very carefully if it's going to be a system that is equated with, mainly, proportional representation. In other words, if 30 seats are going to be decided in this particul

Electoral Reform committee  Mr. Deltell, it was also a great pleasure for me to meet you. I have actually been watching your evolution on the provincial stage, in Quebec, with a great deal of respect. For me, a fair and equitable process is exactly what you are currently doing: considering the possible cho

Electoral Reform committee  We would have to do that even if we were to raise it as a constitutional question, because there are references in there that no longer apply and they need to be rectified by Parliament. At the same time, it would allow an opportunity to review the financing regime and other aspe

Electoral Reform committee  It is my view that we owe an explanation to the people who feel that way, and they are numerous. There are many people. There's Fair Vote Canada, and they encompass a lot of other organizations. We need to bring them into the fold somehow.

Electoral Reform committee  I'm alluding to the fact that right now in the western provinces people voted one way. There's representation here, and some parties are under-represented. This body's missing in caucus. If we go to eastern Canada, the reverse is there. If we go to Quebec, it's the same thing:

Electoral Reform committee  I was highlighting several aspects that have come forward for a number of years about how power is concentrated. The system that was established by Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau—and I was a middling public servant at the time, but I was participating in it—was meant to en

Electoral Reform committee  Intraparty?

Electoral Reform committee  I was making an allusion to what is called an open list, which is where the electors rank, within the same party, which one they prefer. I've never been a candidate, but I'm saying that if I were a candidate and my name was fifth on that list, and I'm expecting only four to be

Electoral Reform committee  Do you want to know where I would introduce proportionality in the results?

Electoral Reform committee  That brings me to answer the question that was put to me. I would now like all the media to listen carefully. I was not making a proposal, but rather a suggestion, since I have not had the time to develop it. That being said, here is my suggestion. Since Canada is so vast, we wo