Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I have had an opportunity after your calling me to a halt moments ago to check House Standing Order 33(1) relating to statements by ministers. It states:
A Member from each of the parties in opposition to the government may comment briefly thereon.
There is no reference to equivalent time. It then goes on to state:
The time for such proceedings shall be limited as the Speaker deems fit.
I of course respect the authority and decisions of the Chair and expect to be guided by the same rules as other members in the House. We have not had much experience in this Parliament with the practice of ministerial statements. I hope we will have more.
I would hope also that the Speaker may have an opportunity to reflect upon the flexibility available to members responding to statements, bearing in mind that while the minister in this case did the House the courtesy of making a copy of his statement available in advance, that is not always the practice and a rigid adherence to a rule of equivalency would put some limitations upon members of the opposition.