It is important for us not to engage in a debate on false premises. This is a point of order and I'm asking you to rule once and for all.
I thank Mr. Petit for the efforts he's made, but the reality is the following. If the chair and the clerk consult Marleau Montpetit, they will notice that bills must be the subject of an order of reference from the House to a committee and that there are absolutely no timelines set out for this.
It is very important to understand that, Mr. Chairman, and I reiterate that this is a point of order.
In Marleau Montpetit, the only deadline the House must respect is that dealing with private members' business. That is the reason why, from time to time, there are requests for extensions made. Just yesterday, the finance committee voted in favour of such a request on private members' business.
That means that in all cases, the committee must always formally acknowledge the bills received by the House, but the order in which it chooses to do its work, be it related to private members' motions or government motions, has nothing to do with this order of reference. Besides, it is the prerogative of all committee members, recognized by their respective whips, to introduce motions. It is the committee's prerogative to defeat them, but the power to introduce motions is an integral part of the privilege of sitting on a committee.
Once again, I thank Mr. Petit for his research, but his argument is flawed in two ways. First, it is not pursuant to any provision in the standing orders. Second, if he were right, it would mean that a majority government—and thank God that isn't the case at the moment—could simply, due to the number of members it has in its caucus, decide on 100% of House business. It would constantly be tabling motions to direct business.
Mr. Chairman, I'll end by reminding you of two things. This committee is autonomous, and if it wants to carry out studies which take precedence over government bills, so be it. That being said, it is not the purpose of this motion. The motion fits within the framework of the consideration of several government bills which have been studied, and there will be others. Nonetheless, I call on you to indicate to the committee, based on an informed reading of our standing orders, that the information provided by Mr. Petit is unfortunately not well founded.