Sure. I will get you the practices.
If you had a situation where a large number of members who were not members of the committee came into the room and decided they wanted to get on the list and talk out something, you could understand how that might frustrate the business of the committee. As a consequence, the practice has been established that a member who is not a permanent member and not signed in may speak, but only if there is no other permanent member who doesn't want to speak. This doesn't relate to, for instance, questioning of a witness. A member who is signed in could give up their slot, their speaking slot, to a member who is not a permanent member. But when it's just general debate, where a person can put their name on as many times as they want, there has to be a limit.
Mr. Poilievre, I understand your point and I will provide you with the practice and the precedent of other committees in which this has happened. I think one was on the same-sex marriage debate that happened in this room. Pat O'Brien was sitting as an independent; he wasn't on any party's list, and the committee had to vote to allow him to speak.
Thank you for raising the point.
Mr. Easter.