Okay, that's done.
With respect to flag issue, it is one that we should study. I think it's important to realize that this is not to question people's intentions here, because on both sides of this table, I think, everyone has the best of intentions when it comes to honouring those who have died either on foreign battlefields or here at home, for various reasons. So I don't think anyone here has anything but the best of intentions when it comes to the half-masting of the flag; but I do think it's an issue that's very important. Symbols are important. The country's flag is important, and I think it's important how we treat these symbols and what protocols are followed.
I think it's incredibly important that we have a consistent protocol. These things are very important, not just for today but for the future as well; and I think it's important that we set in place a consistent protocol. I don't think the protocol we have in place today is in fact consistent. There are some very odd things that are inconsistent with the protocol, which I think need to be studied by the committee.
I was surprised to find out that when former President Gerald Ford died, the protocol dictated that we half-mast the flag. I thought that was a very odd protocol. Some people may not find it untoward or odd at all, and I don't question their intentions in that respect; but I think there are a number of issues with the present protocol that have just come to be, I think, because of the gradual evolution of the protocol over the course of many, many decades, which have created some very odd, or seemingly inconsistent, protocols.
So I would support the committee studying this issue and coming to some sort of recommendation as to what the new protocol should be. I think it's something we should study and we should come to a recommendation on.