Mr. Speaker, I apologize to the hon. member, but I want to raise this point of order at the beginning of this hour concerning private member's bills because I want to make a very important point.
Since the beginning of this Parliament we have had a system where a subcommittee of the House decides which private members' bills are votable or not votable. However, there is a tendency in the House for members at the end of the debate to ask for unanimous consent for a bill which is not votable, such as this one is today, to become votable.
From the government side, it is our responsibility to make sure that the rules are respected. If members feel that all private members' bills should be votable, that question should be addressed to the House committee on procedure instead of making the point each time. In this case, even though we would like the hon. leader, Lester B. Pearson, to have a national holiday, the government definitely cannot support such an idea.