Madam Speaker, I would like to support the argument and the point of order put forward by my colleague from the Bloc.
I was just reading the ruling that came from the Speaker on Tuesday, September 18, 2001, and I would agree that what the government did today by preventing further amendments was really a motion to limit debate.
It has been clear in rulings from the Speaker that there is a lot of concern now about the expanded use of Standing Order 56.1. The member is entirely correct about the Standing Order being about routine motions, whereas what took place today was clearly an attempt by the government to limit debate, which is not appropriate under this Standing Order.
The government has other Standing Orders that it could use, such as Standing Order 71. There are other measures that it could use. For the government to try to ram this through at the last minute by using Standing Order 56.1, definitely limits the debate of members.
Madam Speaker, I would hope that you would examine this very carefully. A creeping, sort of incremental change is taking place where the government is continually relying on this particular Standing Order to expand the horizon of what it wants to do. It is really an inappropriate use of this particular Standing Order.
I hope the Speaker will uphold the earlier decision that was made in 2001 to make the confines and the appropriate use of this Standing Order clear. It clearly was not intended to be used to prevent further debate by members, which is what is actually happening right now because it was allowed.