Environment Committee on April 9th, 2008

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Thank you, Chair.

The point we are at now is, as it has been for six weeks, clause 10. This is a clause that talks about the transparency and accountability of climate change initiatives from government. The government, for seventeen and a half hours now, has been filibustering this committee.

I have the floor, I believe, Chair.

[The Chair, Conservative, Bob Mills]

Mr. Warawa has a point of order.

[Mark Warawa, Conservative, Langley, BC]

Chair, for clarification, my understanding from what you said was that once this was dealt with, we would go back to where we had ended, which was that Mr. Cullen had a motion on the floor to limit speaking time.

[The Chair, Conservative, Bob Mills]

That's correct, yes.

[Mark Warawa, Conservative, Langley, BC]

Is that where we are?

[The Chair, Conservative, Bob Mills]

Maybe I didn't make that clear.

Mr. Cullen, unless you withdraw it, you had a motion at that point, and I had a speaking order at that point—

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

That's correct.

[The Chair, Conservative, Bob Mills]

—so we would revert right to that point. It is that we limit speaking to two minutes per speaker for clause 10 and onwards.

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

That's correct. Chair, in this ruling that was just—

[Mark Warawa, Conservative, Langley, BC]

Speaking to that point of order, Chair—

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

I have the floor, Mr. Warawa.

[Mark Warawa, Conservative, Langley, BC]

I have a point of order, which overrules—

[The Chair, Conservative, Bob Mills]

Mr. Warawa, yes.

[Mark Warawa, Conservative, Langley, BC]

Chair, because we are dealing with limiting time, not with clause 10, and it was that motion that created all the problems that are now being reported back to the House, would it be possible for Mr. Cullen to remove his motion, which was put in improperly, against the rules, so that we can deal with clause 10?

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Mr. Chair, I want to clarify that—

[Mark Warawa, Conservative, Langley, BC]

Does he have that opportunity?

[The Chair, Conservative, Bob Mills]

I think Mr. Warawa is asking a question.

What I am saying is that we have dealt with the point of privilege, which we're referring now back to the House; we unanimously agreed to that. We now revert to where we were when that motion and those votes and my ruling and everything was...and at that point we had Mr. Watson, Mr. Warawa, Mr. McGuinty, Mr. Bigras, Mr. Cullen, Mr. Vellacott, and Mr. Godfrey on a list. That's where we were, and it would be on the motion you made, Mr. Cullen, to limit speaking times.

Obviously it can be withdrawn and we can get on to clause 10.

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Is this what the parliamentary secretary is asking me to do?

[The Chair, Conservative, Bob Mills]

I will ask the parliamentary secretary that.

Mr. Warawa, are we asking for the removal of that motion and a return to the amended clause 10, or are we carrying on? Mr. Cullen is asking what you're asking me.

[Mark Warawa, Conservative, Langley, BC]

My point of order was to ask whether he has the opportunity to take that off the table—

[The Chair, Conservative, Bob Mills]

Yes, he has.

[Mark Warawa, Conservative, Langley, BC]

He knows what he did was against the rules. If he wants—

[The Chair, Conservative, Bob Mills]

Mr. Warawa, I don't think that's the point. The point is—

[Mark Warawa, Conservative, Langley, BC]

I'm not going to make that motion, because there's a motion on the table. So it's up to him, Chair.

[The Chair, Conservative, Bob Mills]

He's asking you, I think in all friendliness, whether you would like him to remove that motion. I think it's a yes or a no.