I think the House has already denied that request, so I am not sure if it is fruitful to put it to the House again.
I do want to say to the hon. member for Nanaimo—Alberni that I understand that this a matter that is obviously very important to him. It has obviously affected his decision on where to sit in the House, and I am not unsympathetic to that. There may be aspects that he feels he has grievances on, but he must understand the position the Speaker is in, and that other members of the House are in, when it comes to people making decisions like this.
He has had the floor for over 10 minutes, which is more than the normal allotted time we give for most speeches at second and third reading of debate. I think in any interpretation of the word “brief”, when it comes to a brief statement, I would be on thin ground if I gave much more than I already have.
I feel bad that I have to do this, but I will have to stop him there, as he may not be surprised to hear. I do not think there is anything in there for the Chair to rule on. I have not heard anything that would indicate that his privileges have been affected. He may have made a decision, but on his ability to fulfill his parliamentary duties, to me there has been no demonstration that that has been affected by the incidents he is articulating.
From there, we will move on to orders of the day. The hon. government House leader.