Madam Speaker, before I start my comments today, I have an opportunity, because I am standing up, to recognize Sabrina Larson, who has worked in my constituency office for 16 years. She is here in Ottawa today to get a long service award. I cannot tell whether she is in the House but I am very thankful for the work she has done for many, many years, helping my constituents handle their casework. I serve what is no doubt the largest constituency by population in the country, with a lot of casework. We think there are between 260,000 and 280,000 people right now in Edmonton—Wetaskiwin. I am looking forward to the boundary changes in the next election. I should mention that Sabrina's husband, Laine, is here in Ottawa. I am very thankful for him as well.
The new constituency, when the boundaries take effect at the election, will be switched from Edmonton—Wetaskiwin to Leduc—Wetaskiwin. In that new constituency, the community of Maskwacis will be added to my constituency. I am very much looking forward to the riding boundaries being moved in that way. It is very important for Maskwacis to be included in the region we are in.
Of course, the hon. member for Edmonton Griesbach and I may not agree on very many things, but as he spoke today, I was listening intently. I appreciated his comments, and I appreciated, especially, his shout-out to Willie Littlechild, who was the member of Parliament for that area, I believe, from 1984 to 1993, or in that time frame anyway.
We also have a connection in that he is very involved with the Edmonton Oilers Community Foundation. I worked for the Edmonton Oilers before I was elected. I am very thankful to Willie for his contributions to the broader community and specifically to the community of Maskwacis.
This debate is really important. As I was listening to the debate today, I was struck by Liberal members, including the Liberal member for Winnipeg North, the parliamentary secretary to the government House leader, and, earlier, the member for Saint John—Rothesay, standing up and completely discounting the importance of this conversation, completely demeaning the fact that we would even have this conversation today, talking about how unimportant it is.
Of course, the member for Winnipeg North called it “fake news”. Just a few minutes ago, as we were talking, he referred to the whole debate we are having today as “fake news”. Interestingly, Conservatives have brought up this issue at various committees in the House. We are having this debate today because of a concurrence motion brought forward by Conservatives.
The member will have the opportunity to vote on this concurrence motion and the amendments in the coming days. We will look forward to seeing how the member for Winnipeg North votes.
I want to focus on the member of Parliament for Edmonton Centre and the broader issue here. Of course, he is the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages—
Madam Speaker, before I start my comments today, I have an opportunity, because I am standing up, to recognize Sabrina Larson, who has worked in my constituency office for 16 years. She is here in Ottawa today to get a long service award. I cannot tell whether she is in the House but I am very thankful for the work she has done for many, many years, helping my constituents handle their casework. I serve what is no doubt the largest constituency by population in the country, with a lot of casework. We think there are between 260,000 and 280,000 people right now in Edmonton—Wetaskiwin. I am looking forward to the boundary changes in the next election. I should mention that Sabrina's husband, Laine, is here in Ottawa. I am very thankful for him as well.
The new constituency, when the boundaries take effect at the election, will be switched from Edmonton—Wetaskiwin to Leduc—Wetaskiwin. In that new constituency, the community of Maskwacis will be added to my constituency. I am very much looking forward to the riding boundaries being moved in that way. It is very important for Maskwacis to be included in the region we are in.
Of course, the hon. member for Edmonton Griesbach and I may not agree on very many things, but as he spoke today, I was listening intently. I appreciated his comments, and I appreciated, especially, his shout-out to Willie Littlechild, who was the member of Parliament for that area, I believe, from 1984 to 1993, or in that time frame anyway.
We also have a connection in that he is very involved with the Edmonton Oilers Community Foundation. I worked for the Edmonton Oilers before I was elected. I am very thankful to Willie for his contributions to the broader community and specifically to the community of Maskwacis.
This debate is really important. As I was listening to the debate today, I was struck by Liberal members, including the Liberal member for Winnipeg North, the parliamentary secretary to the government House leader, and, earlier, the member for Saint John—Rothesay, standing up and completely discounting the importance of this conversation, completely demeaning the fact that we would even have this conversation today, talking about how unimportant it is.
Of course, the member for Winnipeg North called it “fake news”. Just a few minutes ago, as we were talking, he referred to the whole debate we are having today as “fake news”. Interestingly, Conservatives have brought up this issue at various committees in the House. We are having this debate today because of a concurrence motion brought forward by Conservatives.
The member will have the opportunity to vote on this concurrence motion and the amendments in the coming days. We will look forward to seeing how the member for Winnipeg North votes.
I want to focus on the member of Parliament for Edmonton Centre and the broader issue here. Of course, he is the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages—