Mr. Speaker, I have a quick question for the hon. member who did such a good job of introducing this idea.
There are now criteria in place that are required of a private member's bill in order for it to be considered votable. I am not sure what the number is. The criteria include such things as the bill being of national interest rather than regional interest and a few other things. In the past I think all bills sent to the committee did meet those criteria, but for some reason they were still not made votable.
Would the hon. member have any idea as to why a bill that meets the criteria presently laid out in legislation would be refused by the committee? Second, if the motion today were to pass would he agree or disagree that there should be some criteria in place in order for a bill to qualify for votability?