Mr. Chair, it's out of openness that I suggested to the committee the order that I will now propose. I should have resisted: given the fact that my motion was unanimously supported, we would have already adopted it three meetings ago.
I won't mention the order I was thinking of then and will just stick to what I announced earlier today.
I propose that the order of questioning in the first round be as follows: official opposition, government party, third party and government party. In the second round, all questions would be asked in turn by the members of the government and opposition parties, in the following order: government party, official opposition, government party, official opposition, government party, official opposition, government party. The principle is that all members should have the opportunity to question the witnesses. If there is any time remaining, the next rounds will follow the speaking order of the first two rounds at the discretion of the chair.
It's clear that, in the event of a third round, we would proceed as in the first round. On that occasion, a representative of the third party would have the right to speak.