Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'll go back to the motion at hand, which concerns the two minutes per speaker per clause.
Mr. McGuinty says we should go back to the Magna Carta. That would take a little more than two minutes per speaker per clause, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Chair, to go back to the point, even Parliament and its institutions—the House of Commons, the Senate—have rules. They establish rules to facilitate debate, not to shut it down. This was a bit of my point earlier, when we were talking about your ruling.
The rules don't exist for the majority to impose its unfettered will on the minority in Parliament. Our Charter of Rights flows out of the recognition that a minority group—or even, for that matter, an individual—versus the state has rights. We're protected against the imposition of the sheer will of a majority. We recognize that in the Standing Orders of the House. We recognize it in the committee rules as well. They foster debate.
Two minutes per speaker per clause doesn't foster debate. It closes it down.