I want to correct something I said earlier. There are in fact two government members on the subcommittee on private members' business, one of whom is the Chair.
I really don't feel like getting into a lengthy debate on this subject today, but I will live with it. We need to put matters in perspective. We're talking about a subcommittee that would be responsible for looking into gifts from the standpoint of the ethics code for MPs. The 308 Members of the House of Commons are allowed to accept gifts and we need to know what rules apply in such instances. No one party is more likely than another to receive gifts. We're talking here about a small subcommittee that would meet perhaps three or four times a year, unless it wants to present a very detailed report and work on it for a year and a half. I really don't see what the problem is.The Chair would have the right to speak up just like the other members. It would not be a formal structure. We shouldn't anticipate problems where there are no problems. This newly created subcommittee is really quite benign.