Hon. Jane Cordy: Thank you, minister, for being with us today. My question is a follow-up to that of Senator Cormier’s. Minister, the founding principle of Confederation was based on proper representation for all regions in government. Representation by population in the House of Commons was balanced by regional representation in the Senate of Canada. In fact, minister, historians have said that without regional representation in the Senate, Confederation would not have occurred in 1867. Unfortunately, we have seen those principles being increasingly ignored over the last six years. We now have a Senate with 16 empty seats, with two more in the next few weeks.

I’m going to ask you today about the Atlantic region. Minister, three Senate seats in New Brunswick are vacant, which means 30% of New Brunswick’s seats are vacant. Three seats are empty in Nova Scotia, which means a 30% vacancy in Nova Scotia. Prince Edward Island is missing 50% of their representation, two out of four. And one third of Newfoundland and Labrador’s seats will be vacant within the next few weeks. That means that one in every three Atlantic seats in the Senate will be vacant, some for more than three years.

Minister, when will the Prime Minister restore regional representation in the Senate and fill those vacant seats? This would not be acceptable in the House of Commons, and it should not be acceptable in the Senate.