I have a point of order, Mr. Chair.
Evidence of meeting #142 for Finance in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was budget.
A video is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #142 for Finance in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was budget.
A video is available from Parliament.
7:35 p.m.
Conservative
7:35 p.m.
Conservative
7:35 p.m.
Conservative
Philip Lawrence Conservative Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON
I had a point of order that got cut off and got lost in the discussion, but I did ask to speak prior to your ruling, and then you gave the ruling.
7:35 p.m.
Conservative
Philip Lawrence Conservative Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON
Yes, but before that, I asked to speak to it and you acknowledged me.
7:35 p.m.
Conservative
Philip Lawrence Conservative Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON
I said I would like to speak to the question of privilege. I don't know whether you heard me—that's fair game—but I definitely said it and you acknowledged it.
7:35 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Peter Fonseca
No, my ruling was on MP Genuis being able to speak and being at the table.
7:35 p.m.
Conservative
Philip Lawrence Conservative Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON
Will you be ruling on the question of privilege?
7:35 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Peter Fonseca
I ruled that at the time MP Genuis came through the door, he was not substituted in.
7:35 p.m.
Conservative
Philip Lawrence Conservative Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON
All right, so that was your ruling on the question of privilege.
7:35 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Peter Fonseca
At committee, it is up to the chair to recognize somebody at the table, if they so desire, and you need the implicit consent of members. The consent of members was not there to have MP Genuis speak.
7:35 p.m.
Conservative
Philip Lawrence Conservative Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON
My objection, if you will, is that when I requested specifically to speak to that prior to the ruling, you didn't give me the opportunity to speak.
7:35 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Peter Fonseca
I'm sorry. I didn't hear that, but MP Viersen, you have been substituted, and MP Genuis has left the room.
7:35 p.m.
Conservative
Philip Lawrence Conservative Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON
I'm not concerned so much with the formality of it, but I did ask to be recognized. You acknowledged me, and I didn't get recognized. A simple admission of that and perhaps an apology would be warranted.
7:35 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Peter Fonseca
MP Lawrence, I've given my ruling. As I said, I was speaking about MP Genuis and the points that he brought up.
I've given the ruling on the substitution so that everybody is well aware of it. I'm glad that MP Viersen has now been substituted the way that it should be done, because I saw that MP Viersen was trying to speak at the table and was not recognized by the chair. He did not have consent, I believe, from members to do so, but now that he is at the table and substituted in, he is able to.
Go ahead, MP Lawrence.
7:35 p.m.
Conservative
Philip Lawrence Conservative Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON
Mr. Chair, I've brought this up three times now, and you haven't addressed it once, so I'm going to do it again.
7:35 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Peter Fonseca
MP Lawrence, I have addressed it. I feel that I have addressed it. You may not feel that way, but we are—
7:35 p.m.
Conservative
Philip Lawrence Conservative Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON
I'm going to continue my point of order. I just want the opportunity to go through the confluence of events.
Mr. Genuis raised a question of privilege. I put up my hand and said that I would like to speak to that question of privilege, which, under the rules, you have to allow; it's not a choice of yours. You then recognized me. You clearly gave me some type of gesture. I assumed that it meant you were going to allow me to speak prior to you making your ruling. A simple acknowledgement of that would be great.
7:35 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Peter Fonseca
I will have to go through the video to see what was said, MP Lawrence. What was happening was a lot of crosstalk and a lot of back-and-forth, mostly from MP Genuis. It didn't matter who was speaking; he would jump in, which was very disrespectful and did not help with the decorum at this committee. I will look into where you may have wanted to come in.
You have had the opportunity to speak. I hear what you're saying and I did give my ruling. I don't know how you feel or how other members feel, but I feel very strongly about the health and safety of the people here in this room and those who are doing a tremendous job to keep up with interpretation. It's unacceptable—and I won't allow it—for members like MP Genuis to come in here and start screaming. The antics only hurt people and the health and safety of those who work on the Hill.
7:35 p.m.
Conservative
Philip Lawrence Conservative Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON
On a point of order, I honestly don't want to belabour this, but I believe it's important.
One thing that will help me from crosstalking is the belief that you will acknowledge my point of order, that you will acknowledge me. I had expressed a desire to speak to Mr. Genuis's question of privilege, and you ignored that and went right to your ruling. That encourages me to crosstalk, not because I want to hurt anyone—I certainly don't; our interpreters do great work—but because I have 100,000 people in Northumberland—Peterborough South who are counting on me to raise that voice.
