Thank you, Mr. Chairman. You were here. I saw that you were here a little earlier, when we asked that the Clerk be consulted and the Chair of the Committee refused. That is precisely the issue I am addressing in my point of privilege. Because the Clerk and the services of the Clerk belong to all Committee members, the Chair cannot unilaterally decide that members will not request the Clerk's opinion.
Requests were made several times, but you don't seem to take these questions of privilege seriously. As you know, Mr. Chairman, you normally are required to consider them, to gather the facts and to dig a little deeper. That is normally your responsibility, when a question of privilege is raised.
Now if you do not follow proper procedure with respect to questions of privilege, the entire process loses its legitimacy. This process allows us to report if we want Bill C-2, an Act to implement the Free Trade Agreement Between Canada and the Republic of Columbia, the Agreement on the Environment Between Canada and the Republic of Columbia and the Agreement on Labour Cooperation Between Canada and the Republic of Columbia, to reach the report stage. It's the third step in a lengthy process that some would say is a nuisance.
In my opinion, Mr. Chairman, it is precisely when a bill is controversial that it is even more important to respect the right of minorities and allow members sitting at this table to consult the Clerk, who is very clearly available for that purpose according to O'Brien and Bosc. That is also stated, albeit with less clarity, in the regulations.
All of these things must be done in the proper order and according to the process, as you well know, Mr. Chairman.
We have made all these points. That means that there will be an effect on everything that happens for the rest of the evening. The former Chair said that we have a few hours for the clause-by-clause consideration, but the fact is, Mr. Chairman, that you have not considered the matters raised by Mr. Laforest and Mr. Guimond. This is not just going to end here; that is obvious. In their case and in my own, you could have said that you would look at the facts, take the time to do so, and possibly ask the Committee to suspend debate in order to get to the bottom of this.
If you systematically ignore the questions of privilege that have been raised today, we will be forced to report this to the Speaker. As we said earlier, Mr. Chairman, and as all the precedents clearly demonstrate, the Speaker of the House has the right to refuse a report that is not consistent with the rules.
Ordinarily, Mr. Chairman, you could have said, when Mr. Laforest finished speaking, that you would look at this—not that you weren't here and would not accept these points of privilege. That is not your role, Mr. Chairman.