I will call the meeting back to order.
I would like to provide members of the committee with a few comments on how committees proceed with the clause-by-clause consideration of a bill.
As the name indicates, this is an examination of all the clauses in the order in which they appear in the bill. I will call each clause successively, and each clause is subject to debate and to a vote.
If there is an amendment to the clause in question, I will recognize the member proposing it, who may explain it. The amendment will then be open for debate. When no further members wish to intervene, the amendment will be voted on. Amendments will be considered in the order in which they appear in the package that each member received from the clerk.
In addition to having to be properly drafted in a legal sense, amendments must also be procedurally admissible. The chair may be called upon to rule amendments inadmissible if they go against the principle of the bill or beyond the scope of the bill—both of which were adopted by the House when it agreed to the bill at second reading—or if they offend the financial prerogative of the Crown.
During the debate on the amendment, members are permitted to move subamendments. Only one subamendment may be considered at a time, and that subamendment cannot be amended.
Once every clause has been voted on, the committee will vote on the title and the bill itself. If amendments are adopted, an order to reprint the bill may be required so that the House has a proper copy for use at report stage.
I thank the members for their attention and wish everyone a productive clause-by-clause consideration of Bill C-224.
Now I will call clause 1. Shall the...?
Go ahead, Ms. Dancho.