Mr. Speaker, I wonder if I would be allowed to make my point of order, and other members, if they wish to respond, could respond after.
I will give you the reference, Mr. Speaker.
In response to a point of order raised on September 28, 2005, by the late MP Michel Guimond regarding the Hon. Joe Volpe's use of a cellphone in the House, the distinguished and certainly honourable Karen Redman, who was the chief whip for the Liberal government of the day and whom the member for Ottawa South supported, said:
Mr. Speaker, collectively we know the rule is that no cell phones are to be used in the House and we take this rule very seriously...I certainly take this criticism very seriously and I will endeavour to make sure the members of the government adhere to the rule of no cell phones in the House.
This is how Speaker Milliken dealt with this:
The use of cell phones is not supposed to happen on the floor and that does include behind the curtains. I have had occasion to chastise hon. members for making this error even behind curtains. They are supposed to go to the lobby to use these things. I would urge all hon. members to cooperate.
We can find this ruling on page 8151 of the House of Commons Debates.
The ruling by Speaker Milliken is serious. There are two issues. One is the disturbance telephone calls or using iPads or whatever can cause in the House. Second, the risk that members of Parliament can become subject to outside instructions during votes is serious. It does not matter how gentle is Charlie McCarthy. We have to worry about who really is Edgar Bergen.