Mr. Speaker, as you know, the process on voting is very much in the hands of the Chair and the Chair clearly interpreted properly, as reflected in the record of House, the intention of the government. It was obviously the intention of the government that the report stage of the bill be moved. The record, as the opposition House leader indicated, reads as follows:
Pursuant to Standing Order 76.1(9), Mr. Van Loan (Leader of the Government in the House of Commons) for Mr. Flaherty (Minister of Finance), seconded by Mr. O'Connor (Minister of State), moved, — That the Bill be concurred in at report stage.
We had been through the process of time allocation and of setting up the votes to take place that evening on the very multiple motions in amendment put forward by the opposition, which took a considerable amount of time and which did cause inconvenience to members of the House that made it impossible for the Minister of Finance to be there for the entire duration. There are people who have legitimate issues and reasons why they cannot be here at all times for such votes. We recognize that people face those issues from time to time.
However, in this case, it was understood by everyone that the government was moving report stage of the bill. The government is represented amply by a number of cabinet ministers in the House, including the House leader who, as the record indicates, in my role I was content to move on behalf of the Minister of Finance, as was the intention of the entire government, report stage concurrence in the bill.
It is also very important for us to look at this intervention in the context in which it arrived, a context in which the opposition has chosen to attempt to delay every possible effort to move forward with the bill.
You, as Speaker, have a responsibility to ensure the orderly continuance of the work of the House, notwithstanding the efforts by the opposition every way possible to try to disrupt the work of the House. In that spirit, I expect you to consider this question.