Procedure and House Affairs Committee on March 17th, 2011

Scott Reid Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington, ON

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to our witnesses for being here.

Before I ask any questions, I thought of raising a point of order, but I just want to point out in response to Mr. McGuinty that I'm mystified by his constant references to contempt. The motion moved by Mr. Brison, and seconded by Mr. McGuinty himself, which was taken to the Speaker reads, “That, given your finding that a prima facie breach of the privileges of Parliament...”. There is nothing about contempt in there; it is about breach of privileges. I note that in House of Commons Procedure and Practice, more commonly known as O'Brien and Bosc, on page 82 you'll find the statement, “It is important to distinguish between a 'breach of privilege' and 'contempt of Parliament'”.

I also note that contempt of Parliament is very different from the Oxford English Dictionary definition of the word “contempt”. It's a specialized technical thing, and one ought to be careful to distinguish in order to carry on proper parliamentary procedure.

I turn now to the ministers to ask some questions. First of all, Ministers, you got notice very late yesterday asking you to come here. I appreciate your being here. Am I correct that you were both at the airport on the way to other destinations when you were called back?

Vic Toews Provencher, MB

If I could answer that, I wasn't on the plane, but I did have an announcement today north of Winnipeg. As you know, we have a very serious potential flooding situation, and I've been working very closely--

Vic Toews Provencher, MB

—with the provincial government in respect of the flooding issue, Mr. Chair.

The Chair Joe Preston

Excuse me, Minister, we'll stop it there.

Go ahead, Mr. Proulx.

Marcel Proulx Hull—Aylmer, QC

Mr. Chair, I do not think that the minister's remarks have anything to do with the question put by my colleague, Mr. Reid.

I'd like to know, what's the relevancy of this subject within this particular committee?

The Chair Joe Preston

Well, I'm going to tell you that today the chair would have a rough time figuring out the relevance of a lot of people's questions, but I'll let the minister finish his answer.

Vic Toews Provencher, MB

In any event—

Scott Reid Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington, ON

Mr. Chair, if I could interrupt, on the same point of order, there are two things.

One, I don't want Mr. Proulx's intervention or my response taken out of the five minutes I've been given.

Two, I'm raising this because the technical definition of “contempt of Parliament”, which has been raised by Mr. McGuinty, and it's clear that Mr. McGuinty and Mr. Brison are heading in the direction of asserting that the ministers have been in contempt of Parliament, or indeed that the entire government is in contempt of Parliament.... That has been an assertion they've made. Having said that, it's important to go to—

The Chair Joe Preston

I'll rule that that's not a point of order. Let's move on to the question.

Scott Reid Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington, ON

No, but the thing is this. Seeing as they're going in that direction, deliberately refusing to provide testimony is part of contempt of Parliament. I'm trying to demonstrate that in fact—

The Chair Joe Preston

Mr. Reid.

Scott Reid Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington, ON

—these ministers have made a real effort to be here.

The Chair Joe Preston

Mr. Reid, when I make a ruling or suggest we move on, I'd like us to do so.