Procedure and House Affairs committee  That's right.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  This is something I've actually given a fair amount of thought to and have been rewriting that chapter on the Governor General earlier this year. I would say yes: there is very important discretion left to the Governor General to decide whether to do this or to do that. But the

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I'm in the middle of writing the second edition now, so all of this is happening at a wonderful time for me.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Right.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  This is one reason I was suggesting that the Standing Orders might be amended to state that all business would be carried over from one session to another, so if you had a routine prorogation at a set date, the normal understanding would be that all matters would be reinstated. T

Procedure and House Affairs committee  You've touched on an interesting issue. I think that gets to the heart of whether we could just rely on constitutional conventions and the informal understandings that had kind of structured prorogation powers. Up until perhaps 15 or 20 years ago, I think there was a very strong

Procedure and House Affairs committee  As far as I understand it, there is a routine reinstatement of a large amount of business; it's not all the business, but a large amount of business is routinely reinstated. So matters that began in one session would be picked up in the next session from essentially where they we

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I have in fact written two further pieces on the 2008 prorogation, in which I enlarge on a number of issues. My conclusion ends up being the same, but I think my appreciation of the nuances and the appreciation that there really is a considerable foundation for the opposing argum

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes, and normally that would be definitive, and I think the procedural gaffe since Confederation was made by the official opposition in not standing up on that Thursday afternoon and asking the Speaker to defer the vote until Monday. It was nonsensical, in my view, for the three

Procedure and House Affairs committee  One suggestion I had was for the House to pass a motion saying that it would support or approve--some kind of wording like that--the Governor General refusing a prorogation that hadn't been heard without its consent or was needed for an emergency. In that sense, the Governor Gene

Procedure and House Affairs committee  All of the above. The main preference, as I had voiced to an earlier question, was to take the matter off the agenda, perhaps by just saying that there should normally be two sessions in a Parliament, with or without setting when the second session--

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes. So you would have two two-year sessions in a Parliament. Just make it routine and carry on. Allow for emergencies and prorogation and that kind of circumstance, but let's just defuse the issue and ensure that Parliament gets on with its business.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  That's close enough. Yes.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I'm drawing a distinction between perhaps an ordinary motion that simply states an opinion of the House and is recorded and could be worded in a way that is an enduring statement of a House position, not the opinion of the day. I believe the House can pass an ordinary motion that

Procedure and House Affairs committee  One suggestion I had given was a motion to declare that the House views prorogation without its consent as an obstruction of the House's ability to conduct business. I use that language because it then raises the issue of a possible contempt motion. And here, I would become sch