Mr. Speaker, once again, we want to clearly understand the ruling you have just brought down. You have responded to the hon. leader of the Bloc Quebecois by saying that the government could very well have allowed the Minister for International Trade to respond.
Yet the question I am asking you, which takes me back to the original one, is this: What does the Chair use as a guide in deciding not to allow the opposition's question?
A little earlier this week, the Speaker decided not to recognize a question because reference was being made to a prior responsibility of the present Minister for International Trade, whereas the government could have chosen to allow the Minister for International Trade to respond. The Speaker is the one who prevented the government from making that decision.