For the first time, Mr. Chair, I shall give my position as a whip.
First of all, we need to look beyond the routine, simple request. If a committee travels with the House's authorization, this becomes a legal extension of Parliament's work. It is not for pleasure. The Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs went to look at the security system in the Wellington Building. We joked about this, asking if a Voyageur bus or one of the green buses could guarantee our transport from the Centre Block to the other side of the street. However, the issue goes much further than this. We have just received confirmation that it is an official Parliament activity. For this reason, an official Parliament activity is the subject of a motion before the House.
I want to point out that I fully agree with what Mr. Lukiwski said and, with due respect, I am telling Mr. Allison that I disagree with his letter. In the letter, you state: "[...] this request unnecessarily burdens the process, causes delays, and takes up valuable House time. "
The four whips are in agreement. Mr. Lukiwski was generous when he said that this was taking up 30 seconds of the House's time, but I imagine that by talking quickly it could be done in under 30 seconds. If you would like some suggestions on how not to take up the House's valuable time, I would recommend that you do not stand up like a group of performing seals to applaud your ministers each time they respond to a question. You will see that this will save the House's valuable time. I will look to see where you are sitting and I will watch if you respect the House's valuable time. I will keep an eye on you to see if you stand up each time that one of your ministers responds to a question. I will send you a little note with details indicating the amount of the House's precious time that you have taken.
Finally, until further notice, you should submit your question for the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs to the management committee responsible for the whips. I am very envious of this prerogative. Everything takes place thus: the Liaison Committee presents the travel requests to the Government Whip; the Government Whip consults with us informally, or when the House leaders meet on Tuesday and we come to an agreement at that time. We come to a decision by consensus. The four parties must be in agreement. If, sometimes, we have reservations as to the usefulness or relevance of the travel request, whether to Wellington Street, Sparks Street, Afghanistan or Kuwait , we can use our right to veto and say that this does not make any sense, even if the Liaison Committee or the relevant committee were in agreement. The process is pretty quick. The Government Whip is very efficient and prompt when it comes to dealing with other whips; everything runs very smoothly in the decision-making process.
Let me tell you, Mr. Allison and fellow colleagues, that I am totally against the Liaison Committee's request.