November 22, 1984 (33rd Parliament, 1st Session)

Mr. Speaker:

The Member may have reason to believe that is not the case. The Member is an experienced parliamentarian. He knows the traditions of the House are that the Speaker has no right to intervene in procedures or decisions taken in committee. The committees are masters of their own affairs. The Hon. Member knows well enough that the issue that he is raising may at first blush be an issue that the procedural committee or a committee on reform of the House may want to consider.
The rulings in the past with regard to these questions have been very clear. The committees are master of their own destiny. An appeal from a decision taken in a committee shall be made in the committee to the chair of the committee and, if necessary, resolved in the committee, but cannot be brought before the House. The Speaker has no authority to decide on something that has happened in a committee unless it is reported by the committee in its report to the House. Only in that circumstance does the Speaker have any capacity to deal with a question or a grievance or a point of order that the committee has dealt with. I think the Hon. Member knows that.
I regret to find that, while he may have a point of serious concern, and I appreciate the point he is making, I cannot at the moment find that it is a point within the grounds of a point of order in the House. I therefore think that the matter should end at this point. However, the Hon. Member for Hamilton Mountain may have a supplementary comment. That is certainly my current view and I am prepared to rule in that manner unless the Hon. Member has something else to say.