Mr. Speaker, concerning the same question of privilege, I would like to add to the words of my colleague from the Canadian Alliance; however, I want to specify that we must in no way construe this as questioning the skills and intellectual honesty of Mr. François-R. Bernier, who is an asset for the Joint Committee for the Scrutiny of Regulations. His skills and impartiality have never been questioned.
I also read the article in the February 18 edition of the Hill Times. There is obviously a problem that you should deal with. When Mr. Bernier signed this article, he did so as general counsel of the Joint Committee for the Scrutiny of Regulations. We must make a distinction between the opinion of the reader and the opinion of the citizen who has the right to express it.
The point that I want to make is this. The role of the legislative general counsel must be neutral and free of any partisanship—as my colleague who spoke before me has mentioned—as must be the function of speaker that you are holding, Mr. Speaker. But we can also include the function of the clerk, of the library researcher and of the legislative counsel. As parliamentarians, we must receive free and independent advice from people who put political debates aside.
Political debates are held by elected members, here in the House. I would therefore like to join the previous speaker in asking you to deal with this issue.