Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Milliken, I carefully read the ruling you made in the case involving the member for Ottawa—Orleans.
From the outset, I would like to say that I am not surprised he was the subject of a point of order. I think we are all aware of how this member behaved when he unfortunately presided over House deliberations. He was a model of incompetence. I think his behaviour has not changed since then. If you want proof of this, ask yourself why he was replaced as Deputy Speaker of the House.
That being said, it is clear that no Standing Order currently addresses this issue. You repeated this a little earlier in response to a question asked by Ms. Jennings. You said that you would strongly recommend that the member stop engaging in such activity, and that you would refer the matter to the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, which would study the ins and outs of the issue.
However, we will have another problem. I imagine that we will end up by amending the Standing Orders. Therefore, new technologies will have to be codified. Will we have to predict any potential consequences? Once in a while, when a member says something unparliamentary, you would ask him to apologize. I don't know whether the Standing Orders indicate that you can make this request three times, like in baseball, where it's three strikes and you're out. You could eject a member for the remainder of the sitting. It's all very well and good to tell members that they are not allowed to do something, but if there are no consequences, the punishment will only have moral implications. Therefore, should there be consequences?
You probably realize that we will also have to address the use of cell phones. More and more colleagues from all parties take calls on their cell phones with impunity. This happens in the House.