Mr. Speaker, I look forward to hearing what the government proposes in the fall.
In the last minute I have, I would like to comment on the Speaker's ruling from yesterday. I appreciated the Speaker's ruling but I was deeply disappointed by it.
First, on a factual basis, the Speaker indicated in the ruling that there was only supposition that certain members of the government may have had privileged information about the timing of amendments. I would suggest to the Speaker that the fact that they submitted amendments is evidence enough that they had that information.
Second, the Speaker made this point:
“Both the minority and the majority have rights; however, primacy cannot be given to both.”
That was the quote the Speaker used. That was not the issue. The issue was the level playing field and primacy being given by the Speaker's ruling to the majority. I am troubled by the precedent that the Speaker's ruling may have set for giving the government the ability to deny members of the House, of any party, their participatory rights in the submission of amendments.