We will come to you after the vote, Monsieur Thériault. Thank you.
Go ahead, Mr. Clerk. Would you please record the vote?
(Motion negatived: nays 6; yeas 5 [See Minutes of Proceedings])
Monsieur Thériault, before I come to you, I will very quickly provide my ruling on the point of order raised by Mr. Virani at the meeting that was held on November 10.
Mr. Virani, at the time of our last meeting, was questioning in his point of order the appropriateness of an intervention made by Mr. Cooper, wherein he referred to a position that he would have taken during the in camera proceedings at our last subcommittee meeting.
House of Commons Procedure and Practice, third edition, pages 1089 to 1090, tells us that, “Divulging any part of the proceedings of an in camera committee meeting has been ruled by the Speaker to constitute a prima facie matter of privilege.”
I would like to remind members about that important principle and call for their caution, when they intervene at committee, not to directly, inadvertently or obliquely refer to the nature and content of deliberations that have occurred during these in camera meetings. Please note, however, that positive decisions emerging from such deliberations are considered to be public.
With this issue clarified, I now will consider this matter to be closed. Thank you.
Right before I go to Monsieur Thériault, I will remind members that the deadline for Bill C-7 amendments is no later than Friday, November 13, at 4:00 p.m. If you have any questions with respect to drafting, etc., please do get in touch with our legislative clerk. His email has been provided to you.
With that, we'll go to Monsieur Thériault.