Mr. Speaker, I rose on a point of order, which, unfortunately, seems fruitless to me at this point, but I will make my point for other cases that may arise.
May I respectfully remind you that, last week, the Chair ruled that members with a flag on their desk would not be recognized so long as you had not made your ruling. You recognized our colleagues from Timiskaming—Cochrane and Elk Island, who, however, had a Canadian flag on their desk.
I want to make myself quite clear here. We have no objection to the presence of Canadian flags in this House. That is not the issue. The fact is that the Canadian flag, like the national anthem two weeks ago, was used knowingly not in an expression of pride in the flag or the anthem, but simply to interrupt, deride and intimidate one of our colleagues. What is unacceptable is the partisan use of a symbol that should be an object of respect. They lowered themselves in using it, as my colleague for Roberval put it, as a mere tool of protest.
I therefore remind you of the ruling by the Chair not to recognize members with a Canadian flag on their desk until the Chair has given its ruling.