Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, MP Maguire, for that clarification on the use of a province on the provincial sales tax.
I want to say that on page 17, we come to an interesting point in the report or the requirements on ministerial accountability from Treasury Board.
It may come to a shock to committee members that I occasionally tell stories about the experiences I've had in the past, sitting around cabinet tables and that kind of thing as a staffer, and some of the history we've gone over. Sometimes I joke that I sat in the cabinet of Sir John A., but I will clarify here for the public record that I did not.
I am going to make a reference here that really matters. It is in this document. I wanted to make that clarification before somebody makes a point of order against me, asking me if I was here in the presence of what this document says. I will say that I was not there for what I'm about to read. It says:
The practices of the House of Commons and the use of standing committees have evolved. The practices and procedures that the House adopted in 1867
—I'm making that clarification. I was not there then—
were a refinement of those in force in the United Province of Canada (1840–1867).
It's important for this point, I think, that the Treasury Board made a footnote on that point. In says in footnote 15 at the bottom of the page, “See a brief history of the evolution of the House of Commons in the McGrath Committee Report”. Most people would pronounce it “McGrath”, but it's not pronounced “McGrath”. It's “McGraw”. He was a good Newfoundlander MP who did an amazing report. It's still relevant today, if you haven't read it.