Procedure and House Affairs committee  Absolutely. I don't think there is any disagreement from what I've heard from both Madam Jennings and Mr. Christopherson, but it is very important to understand that even where you have a throne speech where, following the throne speech, because of a poison pill put in by the go

Procedure and House Affairs committee  First, once you've done your standing orders and the supporting legislation, they can be transmitted in advance, before anything happens. In addition, in the situation you mentioned, I think there was almost a week's discussion--by the chattering classes, I admit--that prorogatio

Procedure and House Affairs committee  That's where the possibility of not having the system be effective could work out. I think the most you can hope for, if this system is put in place, is that the Governor General will have enough knowledge about the rights and privileges of the elected members that he or she will

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Let me answer your question in a roundabout way. I think it's important to lay a bigger framework than just to have potential questions that divide parties. Canada is probably facing many minority governments. Given the structure of the parties in power right now, we could be f

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I completely agree. I think the nine-month period is probably the cut-off point.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Well, we could go back into that debate again. However, the power of the Speaker, as was evidenced yesterday, comes from the Speaker being, if you like, the guardian of the rights and privileges of the elected members of the House of Commons--

Procedure and House Affairs committee  That's basically saying that what Robert Borden did was outrageous and that what happened with David Peterson in Ontario was outrageous. I mean, it's just beyond any type of convincing rebuttal.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Let me first deal with the preamble to your question. First, I did not base these arguments only on the civil society basis of the conventional rule. I'm basing it on the elected members deciding to put in place standing orders that will then create the conventional rule. So

Procedure and House Affairs committee  You were perfectly accurate in everything you said.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I'm sorry; let me answer both questions.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I understand the potential catch-22 that you're putting forward, but keep in mind that I don't think there's ever been a prorogation in Canadian history when there was not some notice given—if not formal, then informal notice—at which point, if there is any evidence that the Prim

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes, but in addition to paying the political price there is the potential for the Governor General--having been given the advice on the rights and privileges of the House of Commons--to then use her reserve powers to refuse the prorogation. So there are two possible consequence

Procedure and House Affairs committee  --I'm not going to go into the political analysis, but the polling has clearly shown that Canadians were exercised by it, and it reflects itself in even present polling numbers. That's all I want to say in terms of the political ramifications of what happened. I'm sorry, what wa

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Again, that is venturing into the political realm, but I'll try to answer it anyway. I think the most foundational duty, or the basis of our constitutional democracy, is responsible government: that the executive is responsible to the elected members and only is allowed to hold

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I'm here to present more legal analysis, but as you force me to, I will venture into other areas. Firstly, in terms of your argument that 225,000 people on Facebook is nothing, well, I'd like you to tell them that.