Hon. Dominic LeBlanc, P.C., M.P., Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Infrastructure and Communities: Thank you, Senator Cormier, for your question. I also want to commend the work you do for francophone minorities in the country, especially our dear fellow Acadians, as part of your service here in the upper chamber. I fully share your concern over the representation of minority groups here in the Senate.

I believe we are on the eve of making appointments and I hope you will be very pleased with the decisions the Prime Minister is making. I don’t want to elaborate, of course. I learned in politics that it is best not to speak for your boss and to allow his appointments to speak for themselves. Based on my discussions with him, he is aware of the constitutional principles you mentioned.

As far as the geography of our province is concerned, we could also discuss that at length. I think that linguistic balance is important. We might find different ways of adjusting the geography, the geographic specificity. Ultimately, we will see what happens in the Prime Minister’s appointments. I understand the urgency to take action. I’m not saying that we should fall behind, but the linguistic issue is important and we might disagree slightly on the geography, but we will see what happens when the appointments are announced.

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