Madam Speaker, I would like to thank and congratulate my colleague from Lévis-et-Chutes-de-la-Chaudière for his excellent speech. He was with me in the House this morning to witness the little play that the government House leader put on stage for us. He played on words, to a certain extent, talking about the so-called automatic character of the referral to committee process.
Now, I know that my colleague from Lévis-et-Chutes-de-la-Chaudière is deeply attached to the French language and that he knows his grammar very well. Standing Order 111 (2), to which the leader was referring, says, and I quote:
The committee, if it should call an appointee--
Could he tell us whether he thinks that something can be at the same time automatic and conditional with the use of the word if? Does he not agree also that, when the word if is used in the Standing Orders, it makes things conditional and not automatic, which would destroy the argument presented by the government House leader this morning?