Mr. Chairman, if that's the way you're going to rule beyond this one, because you considered this one administrative, I would point you to page 874 of Marleau and Montpetit, where it says:
Motions to amend a clause of a bill do not require notice. As a practical matter, proposed amendments are usually forwarded to the clerk of the committee before clause-by-clause consideration begins.
That's obviously what we all endeavoured to do. We did endeavour to get amendments in.
And that indeed did happen.
The proposed amendments received by the clerk are usually circulated to members prior to the beginning of clause-by-clause consideration, for information purposes. At this stage, the amendments are not formally before the committee and the member may move them or not when the committee reaches the appropriate place in the bill.
Mr. Chairman, I've been on many committees, and the fact is that even if you're reading from something that was sent in, often there are subamendments that come from another party, as a result of something that's been written, that may change something--a subamendment or an amendment--and that's always in order.
So yes, it's very clear that the usual procedure is to send them in, in advance, for information purposes, but it does not preclude members at the committee from making an amendment from the floor verbally, as long as it's clear; and if there needs to be clarification, obviously we will take time to do that. But it's perfectly in order beyond an administrative matter.
