Mr. Speaker, we are governed by two broad principles that you have enforced throughout this Parliament.
First, each member of Parliament has the responsibility to be in the House to hear the questions before he or she can vote. That precedent has existed throughout the term of this Parliament.
Second, once that question begins, effectively the Speaker continues. As you will recall, we saw that in the tie vote on Bill C-10, where there was an attempt to obstruct the vote by certain members of the government, but the Speaker proceeded to what ultimately was a tie vote, which you, as Speaker, broke.
Those are the two principles that govern this vote and this situation.
I have been in the House for 15 years. I have never had a situation, which appears to have happened this time, where members of Parliament, who are obviously late for the vote, who have obviously not heard the entire question, are not being honest and forthright in saying, “I should not be voting on this question.”
That is why it is incumbent upon you, Mr. Speaker, to suspend the vote so we can determine who has the right to vote on this important vote, Motion No. 126, and we can ensure the integrity of this Parliament and parliamentary proceedings are maintained.