Thank you for that, Ms. Nash.
I'll just clarify for our witnesses that Ms. Nash does have the floor. She does have the right to move her motion at any time. I'll just give a ruling as the chair.
The objective of Ms. Nash's motion is to have the Standing Committee on Finance recommend the extension of Mr. Page's term as Parliamentary Budget Officer until a successor has been appointed.
As section 79.2 of the Parliament of Canada Act stipulates that the Parliamentary Budget Officer must provide the finance committee with independent analysis on different matters, I can certainly understand that a member might be inclined to think that his administrative mandate falls within our jurisdiction as well. However, this is not the case, as section 79.1(1) of the Parliament of Canada Act states:
There is hereby established the position of Parliamentary Budget Officer, the holder of which is an officer of the Library of Parliament.
Section 108.4 of the Standing Orders states, and I quote:
(4) So far as this House is concerned, the mandates of the Standing Joint Committee on
(a) the Library of Parliament shall include the review of the effectiveness, management and operation of the Library of Parliament;
Therefore, I rule the motion out of order as House of Commons Procedure and Practice states on page 1054: “motions moved in committee must not go beyond the committee's mandate”.
So that motion is out of order.
I'll just remind members that rulings are not debatable. They can be challenged, but they're not debatable.