Privilege / Reflections on a Member

Reflections on a Member

Debates p. 586

Background

Shortly after the House met, Mr. Jelinek (High Park-Humber Valley) rose on a question of privilege to request a retraction from Mr. Ouellet (Postmaster General) who, in a statement made March 8, had criticized Mr. Jelinek and his party in connection with the 1976 Montreal Olympic games. Mr. Jelinek claimed that these statements were "totally untrue and completely unfounded".

Issue

Do the contentious statements of a Minister against another Member constitute a breach of privilege?

Decision

In this case, there is no question of privilege.

Reasons given by the Speaker

No motion was proposed by the Member either in his notice or in his speech. More important, the matter being raised took place 10 days ago, and there can hardly be a question of privilege in such circumstances. The Member has asked that the Chair invite the Minister to retract his statement, but the Chair has no such power unless the statement is clearly unparliamentary.

References

Debates, March 8, 1974, pp. 330-3.