Mr. Speaker, I will try to be brief. I am sure I will still have the opportunity to ask more questions this afternoon.
Many members have said that raising this issue was a serious matter. What I would like to ask the member for Vancouver—Quadra is this. Does he not believe that it is precisely because we hold the office of the Speaker of the House in such high esteem that we are convinced he is the only one who can settle the dispute we are having, with regard to the legislative counsel and the clerks?
He is the only one who can do it because they come under his budget. He is the boss and he can decide when, how and what can be done. Is the member in agreement with this statement. As a constitutional expert himself, could he tell me whether there is another way, when we are in the middle of the debate on a bill, when we have lost confidence in the way things are being run, when the government refuses to put its bill on the back burner, than to appeal to the Chair?