Government Orders – Extension of Sitting Hours

Elizabeth May: Mr. Speaker, I know you have made your ruling that you will look at the tapes. However, I know the tapes often do not reveal everything that was seen. I know the hon. member for Edmonton—St. Albert saw the hon. member for Peterborough standing.

In the balance of convenience in this matter, the recording of his vote matters to no one as much as it matters to the member. His constituents know when he is present in the House, as any of us are; our attendance is only registered in whether we have voted or not. It makes no material difference to how the vote was counted. I voted opposite to the member for Peterborough.

It is a matter of member’s privilege to be counted for standing for his or her constituents. Every vote should count when a member stands as promptly as the member for Peterborough did.

Dean Del Mastro: Mr. Speaker, it is standard practice in this House to take members at their word, in fact, that they are being honest when they are speaking in this House. When I stood in the House and indicated that I had, in fact, stood to vote and to be counted in the same fashion that I had previously, I was being honest.