Procedure and House Affairs committee  In my view, that balance is obtained through trust and confidence. The parliamentary system is based on confidence. If the House has confidence in the government, there are times when the House will take the government's word for things. The theory is, once you lose confidence an

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I am not a politician. I do not have the intelligence to ascertain why the government would decide not to disclose information about the F-35s or other types of information. Those are political issues. It is up to the government to explain this. Mr. Chairman, I have no answer tha

Procedure and House Affairs committee  With respect to issue of contempt as opposed to confidence, I believe Mr. McGuinty noted that there have been no previous cases where a minority government has acted in contempt of Parliament. In my opinion, it has never happened that a government acted in contempt of Parliament

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Arguably, yes, that's included within the intent of what he's saying.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I think the Speaker in his ruling, where he commented that there are no reasons provided, says: It may be that valid reasons exist. That is not for the Chair to judge. A committee empowered to investigate the matter might, but the Chair is ill-equipped to do so. That's a quo

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Obviously, the range of subject matter being considered by committees in a majority Parliament might be more limited than is the case in a minority Parliament insofar as the opposition parties might have more influence on what matters are undertaken by committees. In the House

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I'd hardly want to suggest that any requests for information coming from the House would result in a wild goose chase. However, as I mentioned earlier, your witness, Mr. Cappe, might be able to speak from experience and answer that question. I would prefer to leave that question

Procedure and House Affairs committee  How do I answer that politely? I was here for a number of years during majority Parliaments and there were many who felt there was a tyranny of the majority. Typically members on the opposite side of the House at that time thought there was a tyranny of the majority. Minorities a

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes. The Speaker is neutral. He addresses the issues on the principles.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Every time you talk about those 20 years—

Procedure and House Affairs committee  —I feel a little older.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  There is an expression in English that goes a decision is only as good as the information it's based on. That could be said of parliamentary decisions. The decisions made by the House of Commons are only as good as the information members of Parliament have to help them make th

Procedure and House Affairs committee  In exercising your parliamentary responsibilities on behalf of your fellow citizens, you are obviously going to ask to have all the necessary information in order to vote for or against a proposal. It is up to you and your colleagues to ask the government to provide the necessary

Procedure and House Affairs committee  It could be. I haven't searched the history books on that particular question.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I don't know anything to the contrary.