You're a little over, Madam Zarrillo.
That concludes the witness round for this morning's meeting. I'd like to thank the witnesses for their presentations.
Before we go in camera, I want to report back to the committee on a ruling I have made.
At the December 4 committee meeting, Madam Zarrillo raised a point of order and expressed her opinion that the motion moved by Ms. Gray on that day constituted a contempt of Parliament. She further explained her perspective that this motion asked the committee to influence, intimidate and block fellow parliamentarians.
I committed to take her point of order under advisement. I am now ready to render my decision to the committee. In terms of the timing, I wanted to do this when Ms. Zarrillo was here.
In making my decision, I was guided by a few principles. First, a motion is a resolution. This means that it is the committee's opinion and it does not require any action to be taken. As such, this motion is not binding on anyone.
Second, page 794 of House of Commons Procedure and Practice says, “The rules of one House cannot be applied to the other, nor can one House compel the other to conduct its work in a specific manner or according to a specific timetable”.
Consequently, I considered that the motion is a resolution. It expresses an opinion of the committee and is not binding on anyone. The motion in no way obliges the other House to carry out its work in a particular way or according to a specific timetable.
Finally, committee members are free to vote for or against this motion.
That is my ruling, as requested.
At this stage, we will go in camera for the business portion of the meeting.
[Proceedings continue in camera]