Thank you, Mr. Chair. You're absolutely right to say I did expect that, and I'll be challenging your ruling.
I would suggest that it's up to the committee, and opposition members may choose to override the ruling of the chair.
On that basis, I would suggest that the House of Commons motion that was adopted by all members on November 24 provided very clear guidelines as to where the government's legislation should have gone, so this oversight needs to be corrected. The government withholding a royal recommendation is a matter of political choice, and the government can choose to provide a royal recommendation if this committee overrides the chair's decision and includes that as part of the amended legislation that's brought forward to the House of Commons.
Because we're in a minority Parliament, members have the sovereign right to override a chair's decision. I think there is a solid basis on which to do that, given that we have had a House of Commons motion that was adopted by all members of Parliament, and this legislation, of course, should be amended so it reflects the clear will of members of the House of Commons from all parties on November 24.
I will challenge the chair on that basis.