Evidence of meeting #40 for Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics in the 39th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was point.

A recording is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

MPs speaking

Also speaking

Clerk of the Committee  Mr. Richard Rumas

4 p.m.

Conservative

Pierre Poilievre Conservative Nepean—Carleton, ON

Chair, you must recognize a point of order.

4 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Paul Szabo

Mr. Poilievre, twice you have ignored my admonitions to get to a point of order. In both cases, it was not a point of order. I've ruled that way. Now I'm going to move to debate.

I'm sorry, but you're being--

4:05 p.m.

Conservative

Pierre Poilievre Conservative Nepean—Carleton, ON

It was a point of order, Chair. You cannot prevent someone from doing a point of order. Which standing order permits you to ban people from speaking?

4:05 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Paul Szabo

I'm going to move to Mr. Hubbard.

Order.

Go ahead, Mr. Hubbard, please.

4:05 p.m.

Liberal

Charles Hubbard Liberal Miramichi, NB

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

It's rather a concern--

4:05 p.m.

Conservative

Pierre Poilievre Conservative Nepean—Carleton, ON

You can't ban someone from speaking.

4:05 p.m.

Liberal

Charles Hubbard Liberal Miramichi, NB

--that we have such an uproar from the people opposite.

First of all, I was rather disappointed, because last week, when we met on Thursday, this motion could have been dealt with very effectively within a very short period of time.

4:05 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Paul Szabo

Order please, Mr. Hubbard.

I understand that Mr. Tilson has called a point of order, and I will get to it in a moment.

4:05 p.m.

Conservative

Pierre Poilievre Conservative Nepean—Carleton, ON

So you were suggesting that I am not allowed to raise—

4:05 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Paul Szabo

Order, Mr. Poilievre. Please, we have to have some decorum.

4:05 p.m.

Conservative

Pierre Poilievre Conservative Nepean—Carleton, ON

May I go ahead with my point of order?

4:05 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Paul Szabo

No.

Order. I have the floor. I have the chair.

4:05 p.m.

Conservative

David Tilson Conservative Dufferin—Caledon, ON

I suppose he can turn the lights out. That's next.

4:05 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Paul Szabo

On page 858 of Marleau and Montpetit, “disorder and misconduct” is the subject matter. It states:Disorder and misconduct in a committee may arise as a result of the failure to abide by the rules and practices of a committee or to respect the authority of the Chair. Disorder and misconduct also include the use of unparliamentary language, failure to yield the floor or persistent interruption of the proceedings in any manner.

The chair has some latitude, but we have business to do. Government members have business that they would like to do. The opposition parties each have the wish to also do business.

We do have matters of business before us. The chair has ruled that they are in order, we've given proper notice, and the first and only order of business on the table is the motion by the Honourable Charles Hubbard, who gave proper notice and his motion has been ruled to be in order.

We commenced this process. We finished at another meeting to accommodate witnesses we had on privacy but we agreed that we would continue with Mr. Hubbard at the next meeting, and that is on the transcript.

Would the clerk concur with that, that this is exactly what the committee decided?

Order.

There were no witnesses for today, and that's where we are now.

I'm sorry, but I want to move on with the order of the committee that we have. I understand that it's partisan, it's uncomfortable, and it's going to be very interesting I'm sure, but we need to move forward.

As soon as we finish disposing of this matter, I want to go immediately to the subject matter, again, of witnesses with regard to privacy, because we have no direction from the committee and we really need to do that.

I raise this, colleagues, because I don't want to get into a position where, if everybody is just going to talk to try to disrupt the meeting, nothing gets done at all. We really should try to do something. So right now....

Order.

Of course I can suspend or adjourn, but right now we have an order of business before us. It is the will of the committee to deal with this order of business, and we're going to proceed with it now. I'm going to ask Mr. Hubbard to make his brief opening remarks on the thing, but first I have to deal with Mr. Tilson's point of order.

Sir.

4:10 p.m.

Conservative

David Tilson Conservative Dufferin—Caledon, ON

I'm only speaking in defence of my friend Mr. Poilievre, who in all good faith asked to speak on a point of order. You have completely ignored him. You would not hear what his point of order—

4:10 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Paul Szabo

Order.

4:10 p.m.

Conservative

David Tilson Conservative Dufferin—Caledon, ON

Well sir, you would not hear—

4:10 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Paul Szabo

Order. You're debating, sir, and you're challenging. I've ruled that it was not a point of order.

4:10 p.m.

Conservative

David Tilson Conservative Dufferin—Caledon, ON

No, I'm not debating. You do not have the right to simply ignore a member when he rises on a point of order. Mr. Poilievre, in all good faith, asked to speak on a point of order and you have ignored him.

4:10 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Paul Szabo

No, it was not a point of order. I ruled that it was not a point of order.

4:10 p.m.

Conservative

David Tilson Conservative Dufferin—Caledon, ON

I'm sitting a number of seats away, and I have good hearing, and he said “I want to speak on a point of order.”

4:10 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Paul Szabo

Yes, and he started to speak on yours that I had already ruled on.

4:10 p.m.

Conservative

David Tilson Conservative Dufferin—Caledon, ON

No, sir.

4:10 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Paul Szabo

Yes, he did. That was my ruling, sir.

4:10 p.m.

Conservative

David Tilson Conservative Dufferin—Caledon, ON

He then rose on another point of order. So you are not allowing him to speak.