I would like to open this session of committee of the whole by making a short statement. Tonight's debate is being held under Standing Order 81(4)(a), which provides for each of two sets of estimates selected by the Leader of the Opposition to be considered in committee of the whole for up to four hours. For many members this will be the first time they participate in such a debate, and even for experienced members this is a relatively new procedure, so I want to explain how we will proceed.
Tonight's debate is a general one on all of the votes under Canadian Heritage. Earlier today the House adopted a special order that established for tonight only the rules of debate. They are as follows.
Each member will be allocated 15 minutes. When a member is recognized, he or she should indicate to the Chair if the 15 minute period will be shared, what portion will be used for speeches and what portion for questions and answers. When time is to be used for questions and answers, the Chair will expect that the ministers' responses will generally reflect the time taken by the questions since this time will be counted in the time originally allotted to the member.
Though members may speak more than once, the Chair will generally try to ensure that all members wishing to speak are heard before inviting members to speak again, while respecting the proportional party rotations for speakers. Members need not be in their own seats to be recognized.
As Chair, I will be guided by the rules governing committee of the whole that were agreed to a little earlier by the leaders of all parties in the House. Nevertheless, in order to have a productive debate, I am prepared to apply those rules with discretion and flexibility.
The first round of speakers will be the usual all-party round, namely, the official opposition, the government, the Bloc Québécois and the New Democratic Party. After that we will follow the usual proportional rotation.
At the conclusion of tonight's debate, the committee will rise, the estimates under Canadian Heritage will be deemed reported to the House and the House will adjourn until tomorrow.
We may now begin tonight's session.
The House in committee of the whole, pursuant to Standing Order 81(4)(a), the first appointed day, consideration in committee of the whole of all votes under Canadian Heritage in the main estimates for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2005.