Thank you, Chair. I appreciate the opportunity to be at the justice committee.
I don't want to give people the impression that I only come to committee to discuss procedural issues, but I will start with a couple of brief procedural issues in relation to this amendment that I wanted to highlight in response to the discussion. Then I will cede the floor for reasons I'll explain, but I'll ask to be added back onto the list to make substantive comments later on.
The first procedural issue I wanted to raise is regarding a statement that my colleague Mr. Lawton referenced from Minister Fraser. I noticed in that statement that it says, “Today, as part of its study of Bill C-9, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights is set to discuss an amendment repealing section 319(3)(b)”.
I wonder if you could provide a ruling, Chair, on whether the minister's announcement of that amendment, which I don't think had been made public by the committee or been moved yet, constitutes a violation of the privileges of the committee. At least, I wonder if you could rule on whether this is a question that touches on the issue of privilege.