Privilege / Miscellaneous

Miscellaneous

Journals pp. 833-4

Debates p. 8222

Background

Shortly after the House met, Mr. Lewis (York South) rose on a question of privilege to object to the Government's admitted failure to make certain required payments under the Temporary Wheat Reserves Act. Citing the various occasions and means by which this matter had already been raised in the House within the previous two weeks, Mr. Lewis claimed that the situation had become more serious in view of the recent comments made by Mr. Trudeau (Prime Minister) and Mr. Lang (Minister responsible for the Wheat Board), both inside and outside the House. Mr. Lewis claimed that these remarks created a new situation because they clearly suggested "a deliberate and scandalous contempt for the law by this Government. The law [has been] scorned by the Government, and Parliament [has been] scoffed at by the Government. While saying he was aware of the difficulties for the Chair in treating this kind of issue as a breach of privilege, Mr. Lewis nonetheless urged that the Chair ignore the "mere dry form of the law" and allow the House to send the matter to the relevant committee for study. The Speaker made his ruling at the conclusion of Mr. Lewis' statement.

Issue

Do the statements of Ministers admitting the non-compliance of the Government with certain provisions of the law constitute a breach of privilege?

Decision

No. The arguments presented are not of the character required by precedent to allow a prima facie case of privilege.

Reasons given by the Speaker

On numerous occasions, the Chair has indicated to the House the procedure to be followed in order to have the conduct of a Minister or Member considered by a committee. The Member has not met these requirements in this case. The precedents cannot be disregarded: a prima facie case of privilege on statements made outside the House cannot be allowed in such circumstances. Since it is the obligation of the Speaker to interpret and apply the rules and procedures of the House, the advice of the Member to ignore the precedents and the rules is not acceptable.

Sources cited

Journals, June 19, 1959, pp. 582-6.

Debates, June 10, 1964, pp. 4139-41.

Beauchesne, 4th ed., p. 57, c. 68.

References

Debates, September 28, 1971, pp. 8221-2.