Mr. Speaker, I said at the outset that there were three issues I had concern with. They are related. They have to do with the issue of Order Paper questions.
The first item I wanted to address was the length of the question. As I indicated quite clearly, in my view there is nothing in the standing orders that limits the length of the question. To tell me on one occasion to come on in and we will divide the question up into five parts and then after we have a conversation three parts is good enough, suggests to me that there is something arbitrary at work here. It is not following any set prescription by the rules of order. That was the first item I wanted to raise.
The second item was the number of questions allowed and the length of time taken by the government to answer. As I indicated, what is happening is that we are well over the 100 days on average to get some of these questions answered. For some of them it is taking almost 200 days. That prevents me from doing my job because there is a limit on the number of questions.
The third issue is related and it is the factual nature of responses. This is of concern. I am not suggesting for a moment that there is an intent on the other side to provide me with information which is not factual. What I would suggest is that somebody on the ministerial staff is not taking the care to ensure that the job is done properly.