Once I finish the opening remarks, I will get to you.
As the name indicates, this is an examination of all the clauses in the order in which they appear in the bill. I will call each clause successively, and each clause is subject to debate and a vote.
If there are amendments to the clause in question, I will recognize the member proposing the amendment, who may explain it. The amendment will then be open to debate. When no further members wish to intervene, the amendment will be voted on. Amendments will be considered in the order in which they appear in the package that each member received from the clerk.
In addition to having to be properly drafted in the legal sense, the amendments must also be procedurally admissible. The chair may be called upon to rule amendments inadmissible if they go against the principle of the bill or beyond the scope of the bill, both of which were adopted by the House when it agreed to the bill at second reading, or if they offend the financial prerogative of the Crown.
During debate on the amendment, members are permitted to move subamendments. Only one subamendment may be considered at a time, and the subamendment cannot be amended.
Once every clause has been voted on, the committee will vote on the title and the bill itself, and an order to reprint the bill may be required if amendments are adopted so that the House has a proper copy for use at report stage.
I thank the members for their attention and wish everyone a productive clause-by-clause process.
I would also like to welcome our witnesses back, as the case may be, from the Department of Justice. We have Chantèle Ramcharan, deputy director general and general counsel, criminal law policy section; Joanna Wells, senior counsel, criminal law policy section; and Marianne Breese, counsel, criminal law policy section.
Thank you for being here today, and I will thank you in advance for your indulgence for what will likely be an interesting meeting.
We are into clause-by-clause now, but as I told Mr. Lawton, I will hear his point of order.