Debates of April 20th, 2020

Sittings of the House during COVID-19 Pandemic

[Paul Manly, Green, Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a question of privilege. This is my earliest opportunity.

I must start by reflecting on the enormous tragedy that took place over the weekend in Nova Scotia. I am sure that none of us is unaffected by this horrific event. That tragedy only adds to the urgency of my request.

Your role, Mr. Speaker, is to protect the rights and privileges of every member in this place. Historically, the Speaker has also been responsible for the physical safety of members and indeed of all who work in Parliament. That we are currently in a global pandemic due to the COVID-19 virus is clear. The impact of that pandemic is the reason that this House, by unanimous consent on March 13, 2020, agreed to adjourn until this date.

However, I submit that the date of April 20 was a mere placeholder. No one knew on March 13 what living in a pandemic meant. We knew nothing about flattening the curve. Now we do. I submit that when we agreed to the adjournment on March 13, we placed in that motion a simple expedient to continue adjournment in keeping with public health advice. All that had to happen until any time yesterday, was for the House leaders of the four larger parties to sign a letter to you, Mr. Speaker, requesting further adjournment. The responsibility for such a letter not being sent rests on one party in this place, and now here we are.

The rights and privileges of many members are prima facie violated by any motion to proceed with regular sittings of the House in which they cannot participate. All members from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador cannot participate under provincial quarantine orders without having a 14-day quarantine upon returning to their home province and must isolate even from their families.

This is particularly painful, given that today, in the aftermath of those terrible murders, our colleagues from Nova Scotia cannot gather. They cannot console their bereaved constituents. None of us, from the Prime Minister to the Governor General, can go to Nova Scotia to console them. Our hearts go out to each and every Nova Scotian and those across Canada affected. My colleague from Saanich—Gulf Islands, a former Nova Scotia resident and proud Cape Bretoner, knows one of the family members of a victim. This is a terrible time to be debating procedural motions in Parliament.

For my other colleague, the hon. member for Fredericton, her rights and privileges are violated. Should she attempt to represent her constituents physically in this place, which is her duty and her right, she would be required to self-isolate from her husband and children on her return, for 14 days.

Quebec members have also been asked by their government not to travel. The idea of a small number of MPs meeting in Ottawa violates their privileges and offends the efforts of the Quebec government.

The rights of Quebec MPs have been violated.

Parliament is not a debating club for the benefits of large organized political groups or parties. Political parties are not mentioned in our Constitution. Parliament is an assembly of duly elected members. All MPs are equal, just as their constituents and constituencies are equal.

On this day we are in uncharted territory. As Green MPs, we seek to rely on the rules and procedures of this place that have protected Westminster parliamentary democracies for centuries. Those rules evolve, but most fundamentally, the Speaker's role is to protect the rights of each and every MP.

In a pandemic, this surely means that the Speaker should find a question of privilege and, in light of the affront to Parliament of continuing debate on the matters, I ask that you, Mr. Speaker, find a prima facie question of privilege and that you forthwith refer the matter to the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs currently meeting virtually. I also ask that you take protection of the House into your own hands, deciding to adjourn immediately sine die and that you inform us when we shall resume sittings of the House, based on public health advice as to when it is possible for every MP to exercise his or her rights and privileges in this place. I also ask that you continue to pursue the unanimous wishes of those in this place under the existing unanimous consent orders of April 11, to pursue without delay a virtual question period and to reconvene only when a compelling legislative need is identified.

[John Brassard, Conservative, Barrie—Innisfil, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have a couple of points with respect to the hon. member's question of privilege.

First, I would remind the House that the procedure and House affairs committee is dealing, in a very short time frame, with the issue of a virtual Parliament.

Second, we would reserve the right to respond to the member's question of privilege.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I will take that under advisement and return with a ruling as quickly as possible.

Suspension of Certain Standing Orders for Current Sitting

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, there have been discussions among the parties and I think that if you seek it, you will find unanimous consent for the following motion.

I move:

That, notwithstanding any standing order, special order or usual practice of the House, the application of Standing Orders 15, 17 and 56.1 be suspended for the current sitting.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Does the hon. minister have the unanimous consent of the House to move the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The House has heard the terms of the motion. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

(Motion agreed to)

Proceedings of the House and Committees

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

Mr. Speaker, there have been discussions among the parties and if you seek it, I think that you will find unanimous consent for me to move a motion.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Does the hon. minister have the unanimous consent of the House to move a motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I move:

That, notwithstanding any standing order, special order or usual practice of the House:

(a) today shall not be considered as a sitting day for the purposes of Standing Orders 34(1), 37(3), 51(1) and 110 and subsection 28(12) of the Conflict of Interest Code for Members of the House of Commons;

(b) the government response to petition 431-00125, 431-00129, 431-00134, 431-00136 and 431-00139 be tabled immediately and that the responses to questions on the Order Paper numbered Q-369 to Q-379 and a supplemental response to Q-330 be made into orders for return and that the said returns be tabled immediately;

(c) Statements by Ministers be taken up immediately following the adoption of this order, that a member of the Green Party also be permitted to reply to the statement and that the time allocated for replies be not less than 10 minutes per party;

(d) following the responses to the ministerial statement, the House shall resolve itself into a committee of the whole to consider matters related to the COVID-19 pandemic provided that, during the proceedings of the committee,

(i) the Speaker may preside,

(ii) the Chair may preside from the Speaker’s chair,

(iii) the Chair shall call members from all recognized parties and one member who does not belong to a recognized party in a fashion consistent with the proportions observed during Oral Questions,

(iv) no member shall be recognized for more than five minutes at a time which may be used for posing questions to a minister of the Crown or a parliamentary secretary acting on behalf of the minister, and

(v) members may be permitted to split their time with one or more members by so indicating to the Chair; and

at the conclusion of 27 five-minute interventions, or when no member rises to speak, whichever is earlier, the committee shall rise;

(e) when the committee of the whole rises, a motion “That the House take note of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic” shall be deemed proposed and a member of each recognized party and a member of the Green Party may speak to the said motion for not more than 10 minutes, followed by 5 minutes for questions and comments, provided that members may be permitted to split their time with another member; and, at the conclusion of the time provided for the debate or when no member rises to speak, whichever is earlier, the House shall adjourn until Monday, May 25, 2020, provided that, for the purposes of any Standing Order, it shall be deemed adjourned pursuant to Standing Order 28, and, if the Speaker receives a notice from the House leaders of all four recognized parties indicating that it is in the public interest that the House remain adjourned until a future date or until future notice is given to the Speaker, the House will remain adjourned accordingly;

(f) for greater certainty, the following provisions remain in effect:

(i) paragraphs (m) to (p) of the order adopted on Friday, March 13, 2020,

(ii) paragraphs (i) to (m) of the order adopted on Tuesday, March 24, 2020, provided that

(A) in paragraph (i), the words “paragraph (f)” shall be deemed to refer to paragraph (e) of this order, and

(B) in paragraph (l), the words “paragraphs (e) or (f) of this order” shall be deemed to refer to paragraph (e) of this order, and

(iii) paragraphs (k) to (n) and (p) to (t) of the order adopted on Saturday, April 11, 2020, provided that the Standing Committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs be added to the list of committees in paragraph (l) of that order;

(g) during the period the House stands adjourned pursuant to this order, any petition certified by the Clerk of Petitions may be filed electronically with the Clerk of the House on any Wednesday and shall be deemed for all purposes to have been presented to the House on that date;

(h) a Special Committee on the COVID-19 Pandemic shall be established, composed of all members of the House, and which shall meet for the purposes of

(i) considering ministerial announcements,

(ii) allowing members to present petitions, and

(iii) questioning ministers of the Crown, including the Prime Minister, in respect of the COVID-19 pandemic, provided that

(iv) during the period the House stands adjourned pursuant to this order and commencing on Tuesday, April 28, 2020, the committee shall meet at noon every Tuesday and Wednesday and, commencing on Thursday, May 7, 2020, the committee shall also meet at noon every Thursday, provided that the committee shall not meet on a day referred to in Standing Order 28(1),

(v) on Tuesdays and Thursdays, the committee shall meet by videoconference and members shall participate by videoconference and on Wednesdays, the committee shall meet in the chamber and members shall participate in person, provided that meetings by videoconference shall be subject by such limits as the House administration may indicate are necessary,

(vi) the Speaker shall be the chair of the committee,

(vii) seven members shall constitute a quorum,

(viii) ministerial announcements, if any, shall be considered at the opening of the meeting and the proceedings shall be conducted in the same manner as Statements by Ministers under Standing Order 33(1), provided that a member of the Green Party also be permitted to reply to the statement,

(ix) after any ministerial announcements, any member desiring to present a petition may do so during a period not exceeding 15 minutes, provided that the provisions of Standing Order 36 shall apply, except for Standing Order 36(5), and any petition presented shall be deemed for all purposes to have been presented to the House,

(x) after any ministerial announcements and the presentation of petitions, proceedings on questioning ministers shall be conducted, for not more than 90 minutes on a Tuesday or a Thursday and for not more than two hours and 15 minutes on a Wednesday, in the same manner as provided for in paragraph (d), provided that questions shall be answered by ministers,

(xi) upon the conclusion of proceedings on questioning ministers on Tuesdays and Thursdays, the committee shall adjourn to the next day provided for in subparagraph (iv),

(xii) upon the conclusion of proceedings on questioning ministers on Wednesdays, the committee shall consider a motion “That the committee take note of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic” for not more than two hours and 10 minutes, provided that each recognized party shall be allotted 30 minutes for debate which may be shared among members of that party and a total of 10 minutes shall be allotted for debate by members who do not belong to a recognized party and at the conclusion of the time provided or when no member wishes to speak, whichever is earlier, the committee shall adjourn to the next day provided for in subparagraph (iv), provided that, if the House sits on a Wednesday pursuant to paragraph (i) of this order, the committee shall adjourn upon the conclusion of proceedings on questioning ministers,

(xiii) if the Speaker receives a notice from the House leaders of all four recognized parties indicating that it is in the public interest that the committee remain adjourned until a future date or until future notice is given to the Speaker, the committee will remain adjourned accordingly,

(xiv) meetings of the committee shall be televised, following the usual practices observed for sittings of the House,

(xv) any document may be presented by a minister of the Crown, or a parliamentary secretary acting on behalf of a minister, at any time during a meeting of the committee and shall be deemed for all purposes to have been presented to or laid before the House,

(xvi) the committee shall have the power to sit while the House stands adjourned and to print, from day to day, such papers and evidence as may be ordered by them,

(xvii) upon the resumption of regular sittings of the House, the committee shall cease to exist, and

(xviii) following the report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs pursuant to its order of reference of Saturday, April 11, 2020, the House leaders of all four recognized parties may indicate to the Speaker that there is an agreement among the parties to implement one or several of the recommendations of the committee and the Speaker shall give effect to that agreement;

(i) during the period the House stands adjourned pursuant to this order, and without limiting the application of Standing Order 28(3), if the Speaker is satisfied, after consultation with the government, that the public interest requires that the House should meet in order to consider measures to address the impacts of COVID-19 on the lives of Canadians, the Speaker may give notice that being so satisfied the House shall meet, and thereupon the House shall meet to transact its business as if it had been duly adjourned to that time, provided that, in respect of a sitting convened under this paragraph,

(i) the House shall meet on a Wednesday, at the later of 2:30 p.m. and the conclusion of the proceedings of the Special Committee on the COVID-19 Pandemic,

(ii) notice of the sitting shall be given no later than 6:00 p.m. on the preceding Monday,

(iii) notices may be filed with the clerk no later than 6:00 p.m. on the preceding Monday and shall be printed in the Notice Paper to be published for that sitting,

(iv) the application of Standing Orders 15, 17, 36(8)(b) and 39(5)(b) shall be suspended,

(v) the order of business shall be Introduction of Government Bills, followed by Government Orders,

(vi) the only Orders of the Day which may be considered under Government Orders shall relate to the COVID-19 pandemic and measures necessary to respond to it,

(vii) an embargoed copy of any measure to be considered shall be provided to the House leaders of the recognized parties no later than 6:00 pm on the preceding Saturday,

(viii) before any measure is considered, a minister of the Crown must state that there is agreement among the representatives of all recognized parties to govern the proceedings in relation to the said measure and, the minister may propose a motion, without notice, setting forth the terms of such agreement and every such motion shall be decided forthwith,

(ix) no motions may be received or considered under Standing Orders 26, 38, 52, 53, 56.1, 57, 78(2) or (3), 81 or 84,

(x) any day the House sits pursuant to this paragraph shall not be considered as a sitting day for the purposes of Standing Orders 34(1), 37(3), 51(1) and 110 and subsection 28(12) of the Conflict of Interest Code for Members of the House of Commons, and

(xi) when the proceedings governed by the motion described in subparagraph (vii) have been completed, or if that motion is negatived or a minister does not state that there is an agreement, the Speaker shall adjourn the House to the date fixed under paragraph (e), and the House shall be deemed, for the purposes of any order, to stand adjourned pursuant to this order;

(j) for the purposes of committee meetings convened under paragraph (h) of this order and paragraphs (l) and (m) of the order adopted on Saturday, April 11, 2020, priority for the use of House resources shall be given, in the following order, to

(i) meetings of the Special Committee on the COVID-19 Pandemic,

(ii) meetings of the Standing Committee on Health,

(iii) meetings of the Standing Committee on Finance,

(iv) meetings which are specified by the agreement of the whips of all recognized parties,

(v) all other meetings, in the order in which the meetings were convened;

(k) the House, recalling the untimely death of Michael Ferguson on February 2, 2019, call upon the government to propose the nomination of a permanent Auditor General of Canada, pursuant to subsection 3(1) of the Auditor General Act and Standing Order 111.1, provided that

(i) the government consult with opposition parties within 30 days of the adoption of this order;

(ii) the certificate of nomination may be tabled pursuant to paragraph (k) of the order adopted on Saturday, April 11, 2020, as renewed by subparagraph (f)(iii) of this order,

(iii) the Standing Committee on Public Accounts shall meet within seven days of the tabling of the certificate of nomination and, if the House stands adjourned pursuant to this order, the provisions applying to committees enumerated in paragraphs (l) and (n) of the order adopted on Saturday, April 11, 2020, as renewed by subparagraph (f)(iii) of this order, shall apply to the committee for the purposes of this study; however, the committee may consider motions related to the adoption of a draft report in relation to this study,

(iv) the committee be instructed to present a report within seven days of first meeting on this order of reference,

(v) the question on a motion to ratify the appointment shall be put, without debate or amendment, after a report has been presented under subparagraph (iv), at the earlier of the next following regular sitting of the House, during Routine Proceedings, or the next following sitting of the House convened under paragraph (i), at the opening of the sitting;

(l) Standing Order 81 shall, for the calendar year 2020, be amended as follows:

(i) in section (4), by replacing

(A) “May 31”, wherever it appears, with “November 27”, and

(B) “May 1” with “October 30”,

(ii) in section (8), by replacing “June” with “December”,

(iii) in paragraph (10)(a), by replacing all the words before the word “provided” with the following: “In the calendar year 2020, eight sitting days shall be allotted to the business of supply for the period ending not later than March 13; five additional days shall be allotted to the business of supply in the period ending not later than June 23; and nine additional days shall be allotted to the business of supply in the period ending not later than December 10;”, and

(iv) in paragraph (10)(b), by adding the following: “and that, in making this determination, the Speaker shall include in the period ending not later than December 10 the two allotted days which had not yet been designated pursuant to the order adopted on Monday, March 9, 2020.”,

(v) in section (12), by replacing “June 23” with “December 10”,

(vi) in paragraph (14)(a), by replacing “June 23” with “December 10”,

(vii) in section (17), by replacing

(A) “periods ending December 10 and March 26” with “period ending June 23”, and

(B) “each of the said periods” with “the said period”, and

(viii) in section (18), by replacing “June 23” with “December 10”,

provided that, for greater certainty, a motion to concur in additional interim supply for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2021, may be considered on the last allotted day in the supply period ending June 23, 2020; and

m) in the event of the Speaker being unable to act for any purpose required by this order, owing to illness or other cause, the Deputy Speaker or either of the Assistant Deputy Speakers shall act in the Speaker’s stead for any such purpose.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Does the hon. minister have the unanimous consent of the House to move the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

Mr. Speaker, greetings to all the members here today.

Before I begin, I would like to offer my condolences to the families of the many people who have been killed this weekend in Nova Scotia. This senseless violence has shocked all of us and has caused deep pain. To the families and friends of those who were killed, our thoughts are with them. To the people of Nova Scotia and all those in this country who are grieving, we are with them on this horrible day.

I want to express my most sincere condolences to family and friends of the victims of the absolutely senseless act that took place in Nova Scotia. Our hearts go out to them.

The horrible and incomprehensible tragedy that occurred in Nova Scotia comes on top of the coronavirus tragedy that all Canadians and people around the world are going through. The pandemic is a unique situation that is affecting everyone no matter where they live, especially older people, especially our seniors, who have devoted their lives to building the society we live in today. We owe them so much. This is a difficult situation for them, for their friends and for their family members.

This is also a very difficult situation for those who have lost a loved one. I know that first hand because I lost a very close friend two days ago. It is hard not being able to say goodbye to our loved ones, not being able to hug them before they go, not being with our loved ones, friends and family. As horrible and difficult as the crisis we are going through is, that makes it even worse.

I have spoken long enough about the motion. I would now like to hear what my colleagues have to say about it. In my opinion, this motion strikes a balance between letting Parliament play the fundamental role that all members of the House hold dear and respecting the public health guidelines. It also enables us to do what we are telling the public to do, and that is to self-isolate as much as possible and limit travel.

I would like to thank the members of the Bloc Québécois and the NDP for supporting the motion. I would also like to recognize the Green Party's support for virtual sittings. The government, the Bloc Québécois and the NDP have come to an agreement. We continue to reach out to the Conservative Party so that we can unite and work together.

We all agree that there is not a second to lose on partisanship, particularly today, in light of the dual crises affecting our nation, namely what happened in Nova Scotia and what continues to happen every day.

Once again, I am reaching out to my Conservative colleagues and asking them to join in the consensus reached between the government, the Bloc Québécois and the NDP. Together, we can continue to enable Parliament to play its absolutely fundamental role, while abiding by the guidelines issued by Health Canada and taking into account the health and safety of those in the House and all those who are there for us outside the House.

[John Brassard, Conservative, Barrie—Innisfil, ON]

Mr. Speaker, one of the issues the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs has been seized with is looking at a virtual Parliament. We had our first exploratory meeting the other day. We have not, at this point, developed a witness list. I expect we will be doing that tomorrow.

There have been some suggestions that have come forward at that committee. However, there are several issues that all members of the procedure and house affairs committee brought up that could be problematic in a virtual setting. For example, tomorrow the Speaker will be a witness at the committee on several issues.

Why would we preclude the work of PROC and the challenges that have been identified by all members of all parties, including the government, on that committee and allow virtual sittings to potentially be held given the challenges that could exist with them?

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

Mr. Speaker, of course the work done by PROC is extremely important and I thank all members of that committee for their work. At the same time, I know that the member's team is also working on this. Of course, we will take into consideration the recommendations of the members of PROC, but in the meantime we want to make sure that the government is accountable and can answer in a very responsible way. The responsible way of doing this is by limiting the time we spend here and making sure there are other, virtual opportunities for the opposition to ask questions. This is exactly what we are doing.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The hon. member for Beloeil—sorry, I mean the hon. member for Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie.

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, you almost moved me into the riding of the Bloc Québécois leader. I am not the member for Beloeil—Chambly, I still represent the riding of Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie.

I have a question for the government leader in the House. Our parliamentary system is based on ministerial responsibility. Parliament's role is to hold the government accountable. The current circumstances are so unique that now is our chance to be inventive, creative and innovative. We can do things differently.

We in the NDP believe that one in-person sitting per week here in Parliament would be enough. We do not necessarily have to go beyond that. We would not be setting a good example for our constituents by gathering more often and asking all parliamentary staff to put themselves at risk as well.

The NDP has tabled a proposal to hold two 90-minute virtual question periods. That way, MPs from all provinces and remote regions who are unable to travel to Ottawa could still represent their constituents and ask questions of the ministers or the Prime Minister.

I would like to hear the member's thoughts on how it might be advantageous to hold virtual or online sittings. It is 2020, and we do not have to cling to the old ways of doing things. These are exceptional circumstances, and we have a chance to do things differently and innovate.

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, and I completely agree with him. These are extraordinary times.

This is an extremely difficult time for all Canadians and everyone around the world. Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. In an ideal world, we would all be here every weekday, debating as usual, but that is not the case. That is not our reality. The reality is quite different.

I also agree with the member that one day a week would be sufficient, as long as we add virtual sittings. That is why the motion stipulates that we will meet physically once this week. Next week, in addition to one physical sitting, we will also have one virtual sitting. Beginning the following week, we would add another virtual sitting, as the NDP has recommended. Thus, going forward, we would have one physical sitting and two virtual sittings each week.

I should acknowledge that this input came from the NDP, and I thank them for it. This is a government motion, but it reflects changes made by the NDP, the Bloc Québécois and the Conservative Party.

This goes to show how terribly important this extraordinary collaboration is during these extraordinary times.

[Paul Manly, Green, Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC]

Mr. Speaker, we are in extraordinary times that make it very important for us to uphold our democracy. It is important to hold the government to account and to ask questions. My concern is that we have members of Parliament from sea to sea to sea in this country and that having them travel to Ottawa to represent the country in a fair way is not possible in this place at this time.

How are we going to reach beyond Ottawa to ensure that those voices are heard and that we get this virtual Parliament up and running as quickly as possible so that we can hear those questions? When I ask questions in the House of Commons, I am not always satisfied with the answers. However, I have been writing to ministers and getting responses dealing with the issues my constituents are facing and getting good, positive feedback about how we can help out.

Is there a reason we cannot have physical distancing for question period? With a virtual Parliament, we can avoid having to travel and having staff in this place. Do we need to meet? Do we need to have this in this place at this time?

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I agree with my colleague that these are exceptional times and exceptional times require exceptional measures.

I also agree with the fact that virtual sittings have become more and more important. That is why you and your team, Mr. Speaker, are working on this, and that is why PROC is working on this. We are getting to that solution where members from different parts of the country, members who play a fundamental role for their constituents, will be able to ask questions.

In an ideal world, we would be back here every day of the week, and there would be questions and answers back and forth, but this is not an ideal world. These are troubled times, historic times, when we have to find very different solutions, and this is what we are doing. This is why we are here today. This is why we will meet once a week physically. This is why we will have virtual sessions, to make sure that Parliament plays its role, but at the same time takes care of the health and security of all the people working in this place.

[Glen Motz, Conservative, Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the government House leader for his explanation to Canadians as to why this Parliament cannot sit, in these extraordinary times, with the reduced numbers as we have seen today, three days a week, as was proposed by the official opposition.

Given the fact that we have seen the huge challenges that the virtual committee meetings present, we can imagine having 338 of us trying to navigate through what a committee cannot do now. As well, many of our colleagues in this place who are in rural ridings do not have a proper Internet broadband connection and would not be able to participate, so how is their privilege going to be infringed upon by imposing a virtual Parliament?

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

Mr. Speaker, every time we come here, there are at least 50 people from the House coming at the same time. If we count the 30 or 40 MPs and the people working in the lobbies, that is over 100 people. I am not counting security, because I do not know how many there are and we are not supposed to know. We are talking about dozens and dozens of people every day. If we sit one day, they are at risk. If we sit two days, we double the risk. That is why the responsible way is to look at a virtual Parliament and implement it as soon as possible.