Procedure and House Affairs committee  I wanted to make sure that both Arnold Viersen and I were here together, because the changes we're proposing affect just the ridings that the two of us represent. No other ridings are impacted. We came here together to demonstrate solidarity on that. I don't believe that my colleagues who border some of these other members have been consulted with regard to these changes, and I can verify that they don't support them.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I believe it's very important to consider the redistribution proposals. The first one actually better reflects the room for growth for the regions that are most likely to grow, whereas the second proposal actually puts the riding of Grand Prairie into a higher population number, which obviously doesn't allow for the growth that we expect in that region.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Thanks so much, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I've supplied committee members with a number of papers, including the current population statistics, those for the first redistribution proposal and those for the second redistribution proposal. I'll leave it up to committee members to review what we are proposing.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you to the commissioner and the commissioner's staff. I do appreciate the work you do. I don't support the creation of the commission, but I do appreciate that the commissioner has taken up this role. I know it's a difficult role, and we appreciate your work on it.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Was CBC/Radio-Canada the producer of the last debate?

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Through the chair, my understanding is, then, that CBC led the discussions with regard to the editorial decisions and the moderation, as well as the format of the debate. Those seem to be the criticisms that you as a commission have received with regard to the last debate. Are you saying that CBC/Radio-Canada led the production team that was responsible for all those decisions?

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Who among—

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I'm sorry. Were you not finished? I do apologize.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I have very little time. Again, through the chair, I just want to be clear. How were these participants paid? Was it a direct allocation to each one of them? Was it given to CBC to allocate that money according to their discretion? How did that work?

Procedure and House Affairs committee  CBC itself, as an organization, will become a subject of debate in an election process. It has happened in the past, and I suspect it will occur increasingly as it becomes more difficult to comprehend exactly what role the CBC plays for society in our new modern media. My question is this: Would the commission be prepared to eliminate groups that were subject to debate from the process of editorial decision-making, moderator selection and all other processes with regard to the debate?

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I can't speak on behalf of the party, but through the chair, I would just suggest that I would have some reservation about the neutrality of the commission or its absence of bias if in fact the CBC led that process in the future. I can tell you that I believe there needs to be a public debate with regard to the future of the CBC, which received billions of dollars from the taxpayer on an ongoing basis in between elections.