Mr. Martin, before you proceed—I apologize for interrupting—I've just been advised by the legislative clerk that if clause 2 was adopted, amendment NDP-1 cannot be put to the table. It is inconsistent with the earlier decision on clause 2.
Can you help me with this ruling, please...?
In the interests of consistency, the committee's decisions concerning a bill must be consistent with earlier decisions made by the committee. An amendment is accordingly out of order if it is contrary to or inconsistent with provisions of the bill that the committee has already agreed to, if it is inconsistent with the decision that the committee has made regarding a former amendment, or if it is governed by or dependent upon amendments that have already been negatived.
That's the advice that has been given to me by the legislative clerk.