Mr. Speaker, this would not be a question of privilege in any case. If it would have been a point of anything, which it was not, it would have been a point of order in reference to perhaps Standing Order 33(1) which relates to when ministers can make statements.
I bring this to the attention of the Chair. This has nothing to do with a question of privilege, and I will get into that later. Standing Order 33(1) states:
On Statements by Ministers, as listed in Standing Order 30(3), a Minister of the Crown may make a short factual announcement or statement of government policy.
This standing order says that it is optional for the minister to make it and in areas of government policy, presumably important enough areas, to make the announcement on the floor of the House, again remembering the issue “may make”.
This morning we heard accusations against the hon. Minister of Public Works and Deputy Government Leader in the House, in his absence. The minister is here every day, as we all know. As a matter of fact he consults regularly with all of us. He is a member of the Board of Internal Economy. He accepted to sit on that board at my request so that he could be in greater contact with all of us because of the important ongoing renovations on the Hill.
He frequently attends, although not always as it is difficult for ministers to be several places at once, the Board of Internal Economy meetings and liaises very closely with House of Commons staff.
In addition, we have before us today the following proposition raised by a Reform MP. Should or should not the minister of public works have adhered to a recommendation made by another officer of parliament, namely the auditor general? That is exactly what he did.
The auditor general, an officer of parliament, made a recommendation in the House two days ago and the minister responded to it yesterday. There are approximately 200 pages to the auditor general's report.
Does that mean that every minister who responded yesterday to the auditor general's report should have tabled or made a statement in the House of Commons? That is an absurd proposition. Even if it were true on a very major change of government policy, should that have been the case for the minister appointing an advisory council for himself? This is an advisory council to the minister of public works to assist him in his work.
Every time we appoint an advisory council for ourselves as individual ministers, we will have to make statements in the House according to what the House leader of the Conservative Party has just said.
I hope that you wait, Mr. Speaker, until tomorrow to render a decision. The Chair might find out later today that all this is a prelude to a press conference which others want to make later today in order to question the expenditures of the renovations of the Hill and so on, and has nothing to do with a question of privilege or a point of order.
If I were a betting man, I would bet right now there will be a press conference later today. Maybe a senator by the name of Marjory LeBreton is organizing the press conference that is to be held later today. Maybe it has everything to do with that and nothing to do with a point of order on the floor of the House, much less a question of privilege. That is what I submit to Your Honour. There are issues—