Electoral Reform committee  Well, I happen to agree with Gordon Gibson that this is probably the most fundamental constitutional question that we have, how we elect our representatives. When he listed his three constitutional quagmires that the Prime Minister should stay away from, this was number one on his list.

Electoral Reform committee  He is very familiar with citizens' assemblies, having been involved in the Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform in British Columbia in 2004-05—

Electoral Reform committee  Absolutely.

Electoral Reform committee  It was never a discussion I was party to.

Electoral Reform committee  What I would like to say is that the prairie provinces and British Columbia are not the same entity. We have a long populist history in British Columbia, and we've dealt with a lot of referendums. The words were used today that this is too complicated for a referendum. Well, we got very engaged in the Charlottetown referendum as a population, and thank goodness we collectively made the right decision.

Electoral Reform committee  But others are making that point.

Electoral Reform committee  Things are not too complicated for the population.

Electoral Reform committee  I get to follow up on the “male, pale, and stale”. I think I am just going to leave that one alone, actually. First, John Duncan is an old friend and a former colleague. John and I go back almost a quarter of a century. The first time we met was back in 1992. You were a brand new MP. John, please forgive me for the fact that I am going to ask my questions of the other witnesses.

Electoral Reform committee  Thank you very much, Ms. Byford. We'll go now to the Honourable John Duncan, for 10 minutes, please.

Electoral Reform committee  Thank you very much. I'm pleased to be here today. I'm not here as an expert in electoral systems, but did serve as an MP on northern Vancouver Island for 19 years. I believe I'm an expert in the challenges of representing a large rural riding, so that's what I'd like to discuss today.

Electoral Reform committee  We have three panellists: Antony Hodgson, from Fair Voting BC; Diana Byford, who is with the B.C. Citizens' Assembly; and our former colleague, the Honourable John Duncan. Nice to see you again, Mr. Duncan. We'll start with Mr. Antony Hodgson, for 10 minutes, please.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I thank the minister for attending and participating. However, I think the minister is misleading the House. She stated that Bill C-14 enables autonomy and access to the majority of those requesting the right to assistance in death. In fact, the bill excludes a whole category of persons, including my constituent, John Tuckwell, who is suffering immeasurably under ALS and has been forced to go to the courts to get assistance in dying.

International Trade committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to the presenters from British Columbia. It's nice to see some people from the west coast here. Before I get started, I want to echo Susan's comments about the importance of this agreement and this industry to British Columbians. Coming from a community on Vancouver Island, Port Alberni, where forestry is the job creator, I know it's the driving economic industry in our region.

International Trade committee  My name is Susan Yurkovich. I'm really pleased to be here today on behalf of the B.C. Lumber Trade Council. Duncan is the co-chair of the B.C. Lumber Trade Council, which is an organization that was established to advocate for the B.C. forest sector on trade-related matters, but our organization, as you'll see today, works collaboratively with provincial associations and lumber companies across the country as a member of the Canadian Lumber Trade Alliance.

Industry committee  Thank you for the question. Let me begin by saying the National Research Council is one of the research jewels in Canada. This is an institution and organization that has a proud 100-year history of scientific discovery. We've had Nobel prizes associated with it. Whether it's measuring the distance between electrons or the distance between stars, we have to ensure that the NRC is successful going into the future both in basic and applied research.