Mr. Speaker, one of the members from the Bloc Québécois referred to the legal decision involving former Minister André Ouellet. In that particular case, he went outside the House of Commons and criticized a judge. The question then went to the courts and he was held in contempt of court for what he said and he resigned.
Under the current law that we have today, that minister would not be able to come into this place or into committee and talk about it because it simply would not be allowed. Under the rules that are being suggested by the Liberal caucus, he would be able to come in and talk about it. Quite frankly, I do not agree with that. The Liberals may agree with that but I think it is entirely inappropriate.
If the Speaker rules that someone has said something inappropriate in here and asks the member to withdraw the comments or apologize, if the member does not do so the Speaker can ask the member to leave the chamber. The Speaker can kick the member out of this place. If a member has a financial interest involved in a matter with which the House of Commons or a committee is dealing, then that member, under the rules, must go to the Clerk and tell the Clerk that he or she may have an interest.
That rule is not being changed, which is why this motion is very strange. The mover of the motion said that members have the unfettered right to say anything they want. The Liberals know that is not true.
Has the member really thought this out? Does he realize the can of worms he is opening with this whole issue?