Mr. Speaker, I understand that the Chair is preparing to announce the opposition day motion for tomorrow.
As the Speaker will know, this new convention we have of having these announcements from the Chair was made pursuant to recommendation No. 37 of the modernization committee report. The modernization committee report stated that moving up the notice requirement should facilitate the preparation for debate, including the scheduling of speakers. Mr. Speaker will no doubt be familiar with the entirety of that recommendation.
It has been drawn to my attention that two motions have been asked to be placed on the order paper for tomorrow. Before the Speaker announces which one of those motions, in the unlikely event that the Speaker would announce that there are two of them, I want to draw to the attention of Mr. Speaker that the modernization committee report, later translated into the standing order, had as an objective to ensure that members knew precisely the topic being raised the following day in the House. Listing two, three, four, or next week, six dozen items would effectively prevent members of Parliament from having the benefit of that information which was contained in the modernization committee report which was adopted unanimously by this House of Commons.
Therefore, Mr. Speaker, as you prepare to tell us what the item is for debate tomorrow, I would like to call upon the Chair to ensure that there is only one item that is brought to our attention and in so doing, the letter and the intention of the modernization committee report will be respected.
If Mr. Speaker feels that he has to perhaps review what the modernization committee report said, along with the accompanying new standing order, and perhaps render a decision later this afternoon, I would be very pleased to hear that at the appropriate time. I wanted to bring this to the attention of the Chair so that all who say we want more modern rules in the House of Commons clearly live by what we say and what we announce, not by what loopholes we think we can concoct.