Honourable senators, I share the views of others, Senators Lankin and Fraser and Day, who spoke earlier. I support the study, but I’m concerned about the timing. The new Senate is trying to be less partisan, and here we’re entering the most political issue in the country; we hear it everywhere we go individually, the concerns expressed for and against. I’m not sure why we would enter this debate until we see what the government will actually send the Senate, at which point we can study it, have consultations, travel across the country and have all kinds of input as to what is proposed.

I receive all kinds of emails on all kinds of issues, and my answer is always the same: When it comes from the House of Commons, I’ll study it and give you my opinion then. What starts in the House of Commons and what comes out of the House of Commons can be very different. So if we’re going to go down this road of whatever the issue of the day is on the editorial pages and in the news and in coffee shops, then we’re a duplicate of the House of Commons. I think we have, as others have said, a role to play. It’s not the right time to do this. I don’t think the time is very far away, maybe a week or two, until we hear what the government is doing. At that point, we should proceed.