Mr. Speaker, I am rising on the issue of the question from the member for Thornhill. I am hoping you can provide some clarification.
On Thursday, November 22, CTV News reported that the member for Brampton East informed the chief government whip that he intended to leave, which, according to the Canadian press, was effective immediately.
On Friday, November 23, in the Toronto Star, the Prime Minister's Office is quoted as saying, “Based on these circumstances, we agreed that his decision to resign as Member of Parliament for Brampton East was the right one.”
As far as we have been told, this member has resigned from Parliament. Could you inform the House what the procedure is to inform this chamber about a member resigning and whether we would be made aware of that from your office as soon as possible or whether we should continue to rely on inaccurate media reports that say he is a former member of Parliament?