Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I do not disagree with my colleague from the Bloc about the motions she put forward because she felt it was important to get more information. That's not my point, though. My point is that the chair took a prerogative, and I would ask members opposite if that is what we deem the role of the chair to be. Is the role of the chair to make arbitrary decisions without the consent of the steering committee?
I'm not suggesting that the information the Parliamentary Budget Officer offers is not valid. I'm suggesting to you, though, that when the chair takes a prerogative without going through the steering committee, it strikes me that we're going to the very heart of what our parliamentary process is about. So when an arbitrary decision is made, I am troubled by that, and this is a point of principle that I stand on.
Madam Bourgeois, I am not talking about the merits of what the Parliamentary Budget Officer is going to say or has said in the past. I'm talking in terms of the principle of the role of Parliament and the role of the steering committee. I think our role has to be one of being supreme in terms of being able to effectively conclude our own destinies. We work through the chair, but I think we come to the point where the chair has a role, but through the steering committee.