I call back to order this 94th meeting of the Standing Committee on Finance. We're resuming our study of Bill C-45.
Colleagues, I want to run through exactly what's going to happen here.
I outlined at the beginning issues with respect to time allocation, end of debate, and the amendment from Dr. Fry.
Mr. Jean asked me as the chair for clarification; I presented the clarification, the interpretation that I had. He presented an alternative interpretation with respect to the “end of debate” section. I have ruled that his interpretation is incorrect. Therefore, Mr. Jean challenged the ruling of the chair with respect to my interpretation.
I'll read from chapter 20 of O'Brien and Bosc:
Decisions by the Chair are not debatable. They can, however, be appealed to the full committee. To appeal a decision by a Chair, a Member must inform the committee of his or her intent immediately after the decision is announced. The Chair then asks the committee to vote on the following motion: “That the decision of the Chair be sustained”.
And I will ask for that motion.
I'll just finish up here.
If my ruling is sustained, we will proceed as I previously explained. If my ruling is overturned, then Mr. Jean's interpretation will stand.
As the chair, I will give any member the opportunity to withdraw any motions in the package that they do not wish to proceed with, if we go with Mr. Jean's motion, because if we go with Mr. Jean's interpretation, what it means is that we consider all amendments deemed to be moved.
That's as full an explanation as I can give. Therefore, I will put the following motion to the committee—