Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes, there is. Again, I suppose you get into gradations of truth. Something that is spoken really baldly at an in camera meeting might be tempered in a public meeting.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  That's okay, Mr. Chairman.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I didn't address this particular aspect of in camera, notably the leaking of information, and particularly reports and information relating to the discussions on reports, so I don't have a lot of the background. But I would certainly be able to say to you that the worry I have

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I think that you must bear in mind that the deliberations of Parliament are privileged, they fall under the umbrella of privilege. So witnesses already benefit from protection. Perhaps one way of simplifying the task would be, as some of you have suggested, to have strict procedu

Procedure and House Affairs committee  On a point of clarification, Mr. Chairman, through you, regarding the question of the testimony of Mr. Guité before the public accounts committee, I believe there was also the question of privilege. This was privileged information because it was testimony before committee, and th

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Mr. Chairman, the tool available to committees in cases where information is disclosed or leaked is the possibility of reporting to the House or raising a question of privilege in the House. However, even if that leads to further discussions and the issue comes back here, to your

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Exactly, there is a void.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Mr. Chairman, there is no doubt that the realities of a minority Parliament focus our minds much more clearly on situations such as the ones that you have experienced and described. That said, it is important to keep in mind that cases in which committees have not suspended or a

Procedure and House Affairs committee  If I may say, Mr. Chairman, through you, I think that if the Standing Orders are amended so that what you're dealing with is a suspension of committee activity to handle the division bells, that will address the danger. In fact, all you're doing is buying whatever half hour it is

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes. It would seem to me that—

Procedure and House Affairs committee  There are no unintended consequences that I can think of offhand. Even if one were to do a quorum call or “That the member be now heard”, you would only gain a certain amount of time, so it wouldn't be a very effective weapon, if you will. My own feeling is that it looks as if th

Procedure and House Affairs committee  No, absolutely not.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Mr. Chairman, to answer Mr. Proulx's question, I would have to say that there are currently no sanctions at all. People give their word, and everyone relies on that.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I barely dare speak, given the passion with which Mr. Guimond has spoken. The only thing I could add—my colleague Marie-Andrée reminded me of this—is that at one time the committees were not able to sit while the House sat. Change was made in the 1980s giving more power to commit