Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
In Bosc and Gagnon's House of Commons Procedure and Practice, on page 1050, under “Vacancies”, it says, “Occasionally, vacancies arise in the office of Chair or Vice-Chair during a session. In fact, they arise automatically when an officer” and then there are various points. The last point says, “is removed from office by the committee.” Clearly, it's allowed in Procedure and Practice.
Then it goes into footnote 544, and it gives examples of when this has happened for the office of the chair. I have confirmed with the research unit at the committees directorate that this has never happened before. It would be a first-case scenario, although permitted by the book at this point.