Hon. Denise Batters: Senator Gold, in Speaker Furey’s ruling last night on the time allocation point of order, he quoted and relied upon the first sentence of the definition of the government leader from the Senate Rules. Senator Gold, speaking about you as Leader of the Government or government leader, Speaker Furey said, “The Senator who acts as the head of the Senators belonging to the Government party.”

So, Senator Gold, after seven and a half years of you, your predecessor Senator Peter Harder, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and senior minister Dominic LeBlanc stating frequently and unequivocally that the Trudeau Government Representative doesn’t belong to the government party, according to Speaker Furey’s ruling, you do. Because this is required under the Senate Rules so you can use your cherished newfound time allocation power, can you confirm, Senator Gold, that you, Senator Gagné and Senator LaBoucane-Benson all belong “to the Government party” — that is, the Liberal Party of Canada?