Mr. Speaker, there are two issues. First, a request has been made by an hon. member that the Speaker should rule on an issue. I do not want to get into that one. Mr. Speaker will rule on any previous issue whenever Mr. Speaker feels it is appropriate for him to do so, if he decides it is appropriate for him to do so. None of us should question that.
On the matter of the procedure before committee, we went through this a number of years ago, as the Chair will recall. I believe some work was done.
If it is necessary to fine tune the procedures we had set before, so be it. Perhaps the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs should look at that.
However, our general principle would make immanent sense to most of us. If a government document is to be tabled in committee, the same rules as would apply to the House should apply. A government document in the House has to be tabled in two official languages and I think it should be the same in committee. That is only logical.
If the speech of a witness comes to the committee obviously the witness appears with his document and it appears in the way that it appears. I think that is equally normal.
If a member walks in with a document and would like it made available to all committee members surely that document can be given to the clerk to have it translated and then given to the members. That seems equally logical.
Those are all principles which I do not think are very hard for any of us to understand. They only refer to what is practical and what respects the official languages so that all members of parliament can read what is given to us. I feel that should be the guiding principle.
If that needs to be refined in any way we have very excellent staff in the clerk's office that can prepare a document for us to be fine tuned for the committee on procedure and House affairs and then used by all committees.