The hon. member for Kootenay—Columbia indicated to the Chair that he had an open and shut case. The parliamentary secretary to the government House leader has indicated his views on the matter so I will now indicate mine. I am quite prepared to dispose of the point of order immediately.
Page 406 of Marleau and Montpetit states:
Any item of business proposed by a Minister outside of proceedings on Supply, Ways and Means, and bills is listed under the heading “Government Business”. They typically include, for example, motions to establish special committees, to refer business to committees, to propose a resolution declaratory of some opinion, or to make arrangements for the conduct of the business of the House.
I will skip on to:
The business that the House is to consider during Government Orders is determined solely by the government.
It seems to me the government can put before the House any motion it wishes. We have had some motions in my own experience urging the government to proceed with a war, urging the government to do this or do that, stating the opinion of this House, and all those motions have been held to be in order.
In my view this motion is in order. We are debating it. The debate is underway. The motion was put to the House. I had numerous arguments before it was put as to whether it was acceptable and in every case I ruled that it was.
In my view, the point of order is not well taken and the motion is in fact properly before the House and is one that can be debated by the House, as we have been enjoying for the last couple of days.