House of Commons Hansard #381 of the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was ndp.
The Speaker Liberal Greg Fergus
The Chair is going to come back to the House on this matter.
I see the hon. member for Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo is rising. I hope the hon. member's comments will be germane.
Frank Caputo Conservative Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC
Mr. Speaker, that is a member of His Majesty's cabinet. There is no place for that. Second, to address the substance of the point, I did not say that the minister is putting people in danger. There are facts and the government—
The Speaker Liberal Greg Fergus
I thank the hon. member. I am going to come back to the House on this matter.
The Speaker Liberal Greg Fergus
I will address the member for Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. The only reason why I was getting to the point is because I made an engagement to members that on the issue that was raised by the member for Brantford—Brant, I would come back to the House on this matter.
I certainly will invite the member for Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo to get straight to the point, please.
Frank Caputo Conservative Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC
Mr. Speaker, the reality is that the government policy puts people in danger. Three-month-old babies with sex offenders—
The Speaker Liberal Greg Fergus
That is clearly debate. The Chair will come back on this matter.
To the matter that was raised by the hon. government House leader, as well as the member for Kingston and the Islands, the member for Davenport as well as the member for Battle River—Crowfoot, it is really important to recall that during Oral Questions, questions are to be addressed, of course, to the government, meaning to the minister or to a parliamentary secretary, regarding matters of the administrative nature of any government. The only exceptions are questions addressed to committee chairs regarding the agenda of a committee or to a representative of the Board of Internal Economy. It is not in order to ask questions of members of opposition parties, nor to ask the government to answer for positions taken by opposition parties.
I would like to remind all members that when they are preparing their questions, they clearly should take that into account. Members have been very good about having some preambles, or perhaps, at the very end, putting in a hook that relates to the administrative matters of government, or to a committee or to the Board of Internal Economy, and those questions are considered in order.
However, there are occasions when questions are determined to be out of order, and I allow the minister to respond, especially in cases where, and I will be very careful about this, the question contains criticisms of the government and I want to afford the government an opportunity to respond.
In the cases where questions from members of the governing party contain criticisms of opposition parties, without it being under the responsibility of the government, then allowing a response from the minister would only seem to compound that criticism without giving the opportunity for the party that is being criticized to respond.
That is the reason why we have these rules. That is the reason why it has been brought forward. I brought this forward last fall in a ruling to members. I will come back with a more detailed version of this, but I want to give members a quick top-line view on this matter.
Mark Gerretsen Liberal Kingston and the Islands, ON
Mr. Speaker, on a point of order, could you then please explain why the party that comes from the governing side even has three questions? The point is for us, as MPs who are not part of the government, to still hold the government accountable. That is the whole point. Therefore, you have to afford the exact same treatment to every member who is not a member of the government.
The Speaker Liberal Greg Fergus
I thank the hon. member for Kingston and the Islands for raising this point. I will come back to the House with a fuller explanation, as I just promised.
The House resumed from December 2 consideration of the motion, and of the amendment.
The Speaker Liberal Greg Fergus
It being 3:34 p.m., the House will now proceed to the taking of the deferred recorded division on the amendment of the member for St. Albert—Edmonton to the motion to concur in the 18th report of the Standing Committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs.
Call in the members.
The Speaker Liberal Greg Fergus
I declare the amendment carried.
The next question is on the main motion, as amended.
If a member participating in person wishes that the motion, as amended, be carried or carried on division, or if a member of a recognized party participating in person wishes to request a recorded division, I would invite them to rise and indicate it to the Chair.
Ruby Sahota Liberal Brampton North, ON
Mr. Speaker, I believe if you seek it, you will find agreement to apply the results from the previous vote to this vote. Liberal members will be voting in favour.
Chris Warkentin Conservative Grande Prairie—Mackenzie, AB
Mr. Speaker, Conservatives agree to apply, with Conservatives voting in favour.
Claude DeBellefeuille Bloc Salaberry—Suroît, QC
Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois agrees to apply the vote, and we will be voting in favour, along with the member for Manicouagan.
Heather McPherson NDP Edmonton Strathcona, AB
Mr. Speaker, the New Democrats agree to apply the vote, and we will be voting yes.
Elizabeth May Green Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC
Mr. Speaker, the Green Party also agrees to apply the vote and will be voting yes.
Alain Rayes Independent Richmond—Arthabaska, QC
Mr. Speaker, I agree to apply the vote. I will be voting in favour.
Andrew Scheer Conservative Regina—Qu'Appelle, SK
Mr. Speaker, on a point of order, my vote was recorded as a nay on the vote on the amendment. I would just like to have that clarified and recorded as a yea and ensure that on the subsequent vote, which was applied, it would be counted as a yea as well.