Order, please. There are three things that I think are important in this discussion.
First, this is not a case of a House of Commons rule that requires a royal recommendation. It is a constitutional requirement, and it is one that has consistently been enforced by Speakers in this House. I have no intention, as Speaker of this House, of abandoning the practice in respect of this matter. The Constitution is supported by the Standing Orders of the House that require that there be a royal recommendation before a bill that authorizes the expenditure of public funds can be adopted by this House.
In 2003, as I pointed out in my ruling yesterday, the rules were changed to allow debate on this kind of bill to start and proceed until the third reading stage in the expectation that a royal recommendation might be received by the House in respect of that bill. If one is received, then a vote can be held at third reading. Otherwise the House has had a good debate, but the bill will not be put to a vote and cannot be adopted by the House.
That was the change in the rules that was agreed to in 2003 and that is the change we are living with now, which perhaps the hon. member for Mississauga South does not like, but that is a matter that was agreed to then. If the House wishes to change the rules, that is fine, and I will enforce the rules if the House does so.
Second, members who had bills drafted should have been informed, and my understanding is that they were informed, by the drafting clerks that there would be a potential problem with their bill because it included authorization for the expenditure of public funds. That was the practice adopted in 2003. I have no reason to believe that practice was not followed in respect of the bills that I mentioned yesterday; in other words, that the member involved was informed that there could be a problem with that bill when it came to the House, in that without a royal recommendation, it could not proceed to third reading.
Third, in my ruling yesterday, I invited comments from the House, House leaders or indeed from the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs on how we might review this process to improve it, because the management of this part of it, given the large number of bills that seem to be causing a problem here, may result in some need for address.
I respect the hon. member for Mississauga South's suggestion that the matter be brought up. I urge him to go the procedure and House affairs committee, as I urged yesterday in my ruling, and that the matter be considered there with a view to looking at the practice to see if there could be improvements made. The Chair is always willing to live with changes in the rules. I do so on a regular basis.
I am not in any way suggesting that the point of order the hon. member has raised is out of order, but I think that what we are doing, and what I sought to do in the ruling yesterday, is conform in every respect with the rules we now have in place. The House is free to change those at its whim and fancy, aside from the requirement that this not override the Constitution.
The hon. member for Ajax--Pickering is rising on another point.