Official Languages Committee on Feb. 9th, 2012

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, QC]

I have a point of order, Mr. Chairman. I was speaking when you told me to be quiet. Since I was speaking, I had a right to speak.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

You were speaking, but I had not given you the floor.

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, QC]

I was already speaking when you told me to stop speaking. According to procedure, I therefore had a right to speak.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

I hadn't given you the floor. You did not have a right to take the floor. You were whispering loudly. The only thing I asked you was to remain silent. I stated your name. I did not address Mr. Trottier, but rather Mr. Gourde, since it was you were speaking. I said: "Mr. Gourde, silence, please." I did not give you the floor.

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, QC]

I have a point of order, Mr. Chairman.

As I was speaking, you had a right to ask me to be silent. When you asked to do so, I did so. However, you let me speak, Mr. Chairman.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

I did not give you the floor: I asked you to remain silent. I did not ask you—

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, QC]

I asked that we go in camera before you asked me to be silent, Mr. Chairman.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

Please, Mr. Gourde.

Go ahead, Mr. Aubin.

[Robert Aubin, NDP, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I admit I have somewhat lost my train of thought.

[The Hon. Mauril Bélanger]

Start over.

[Dan Harris, NDP, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

From the start, since this morning.

[Robert Aubin, NDP, Trois-Rivières, QC]

I know what I am going to do. I was on the third open government point, which refers to transparency and open dialogue. I will try to recover my train of thought by starting over at that point:

Open dialogue [...] is about giving Canadians a stronger say in government policies and priorities, and expanding engagement through Web 2.0 technologies.

Here we are talking about technologies through which citizens can follow this morning's debates, among other things. This is about giving Canadians a stronger say in the matter—a stronger say. It seems to me, once again, that giving people a stronger say contradicts the idea of conducting the committee business of the committee in camera.

Canadians continue to use ConsultingCanadians.gc.ca, the single access point to all consultation activities conducted by federal departments. This fall, the Guideline for External Use of Web 2.0 was released. It provides practical advice to help departments make informed decisions about how to meet their existing legislative policy requirements when using those tools, and provides specific guidance to public servants on the use of social media.

Since I want to talk to you about social media, I am going to open a brief sidebar. Following my speech on Tuesday, where I had—

[Bernard Trottier, Conservative, Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON]

Mr. Chairman, I believe we have a decision by the clerk. I therefore challenge the chair's decision.

[Dan Harris, NDP, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

That is not a point of order.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

It is not up to the clerk to render a decision; it is up to the chair. A question was asked, and then Mr. Gourde asked a question. I said I had not given Mr. Gourde the floor. I asked him to remain silent. As chair, I have a right to call for silence. I did not give him the right to speak. I removed his right to speak since another person already had the right to speak.

[Bernard Trottier, Conservative, Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON]

In that case, I challenge the chair's decision.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

That is my decision and it is upheld.

Go ahead, Mr. Aubin.

[Robert Aubin, NDP, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Thank you.

[Bernard Trottier, Conservative, Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON]

I would like to have a decision—

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

No motion is admitted while a member has a right to speak. That is not a point of order.

So continue, Mr. Aubin.

[Robert Aubin, NDP, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

What a roller coaster! This spices things up for those following our proceedings on the Web.

Contrary to this open government policy, I have another document I would like to mention to you. It is a press release entitled "Access to Information and Privacy Commissioner's Call for Open Government". Here is a bit of a clash of ideas. It was issued in Whitehorse on September 1, 2010. That is not that long ago:

Governments at all levels in Canada should embrace open government principles to enhance transparency and accountability.

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, QC]

I have a point of order, Mr. Chairman.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

One moment, Mr. Aubin.

We have a point of order.

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, QC]

Mr. Chairman, I challenge the decision of the chair, please.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

Mr. Gourde, it is my duty as chair to maintain decorum in this meeting. I asked you to be silent while a member was speaking. You intervened. I did not give you the right to speak. I asked you to remain silent. My decision is final and I ask you to abide by the decision of the chair.