My colleagues, with respect to the point of order, I think we have a fairly good flavour of what members are thinking in this House.
The hon. member for Roberval has raised a point of order. We have had discussions on both sides.
What occurred today for all of us, as I mentioned, we are Canadian members of Parliament. Look. The flag is here.
Sometimes in enthusiasm things are done in the House of Commons. For example, an hon. member has a particularly incisive question and his party or one side of the House will applaud. A minister on the other side will have a particularly good answer and he or she will be applauded by other members of Parliament.
I think what has been brought up here is a point of order which contains this question: Should we at all times not be permitted, for example, to sing our national anthem in our House of Commons? It would seem to me that could not be acceptable. On the other hand, sometimes we use very important icons to convey other messages.
I would be hard pressed, as a member of Parliament and as your Speaker to say that the Canadian flag cannot be displayed in this House. I would be very hard pressed to do that.
I cannot look into your hearts. I do not know what the intention was of all hon. members. It would seem to me that if it were a matter of pride that we were doing that, that is one thing. If it were a matter of some hon. members using this device to insult or put down someone else, I would say if that was the intention, it is not the Canadian way. It is not our way to do that.
I wonder if we could disengage for just a little while because we have touched on the heart of our country today; we have, as to who we are.
As to the point of order, I want to reserve my decision for the time being. I want to think about it and I hope you do too.
We have had a suggestion from the hon. government House leader that the House leaders of the different parties come together to discuss how these things should be handled—