Mr. Speaker, I am thankful for the opportunity to speak in today's debate. This is my first time speaking on a privilege motion, and it is not a subject I take lightly. Respecting privilege is a critically important part of the work we do as parliamentarians. I will get right to the point.
Some may call me naive, but I believe that all members of this House who come to this place make every effort to represent their constituents to the best of their ability. However, at times unfortunate incidents do occur, and words sometimes get spoken that we later may regret. Our friends in the media watch like hawks for this moment, no different from the partisan political instincts among us that watch for political opportunities from our opponents to be capitalized on. I would submit that, in large part, this motion is one of those moments.
To be clear, I am not attempting to belittle this incident. It is critically important that all members of this place strive to be accurate and factual in the things we say. In large part, that is why I believe we have Hansard, so that our words and votes can be part of the public record. Hansard ensures that we as parliamentarians can be held to account by the citizens who elect us to this place. Never let us forget that ultimately we are accountable to the citizens in our home ridings all across this great country. From time to time, even in my relatively brief time here, I have observed members who have done or said things and, upon reflection, issued an apology. While the demands for an apology may well be at times motivated by partisan interest, the act of giving an apology is one that all Canadians can share and understand. However, not in this place, if we are to support the motion moved by the hon. member for Skeena—Bulkley Valley.
Let us make no mistake. There has been an apology in this place, although it has been suggested otherwise. I reviewed the record of Hansard. It is clear that the member for Mississauga—Streetsville stated:
I would like to sincerely apologize to all Canadians and to all members of the House for the statement that I made. It was never my intention, in any way, to mislead the House, for which I have the greatest...of respect.
That is undeniably an apology from the member in question. Does anyone in this place doubt what I just said is an apology? I would submit not.
I understand that accepting an apology can be difficult for some; more so in this case, as ultimately none of us in this place takes a situation like this lightly, nor do I submit we should. However, the larger question that remains is this. What is the outcome?
The opposition motion suggests that we send this matter to a parliamentary committee for further study. Let us just think about this for a moment. The record of Hansard is clear. We know what was said. We know a correction was subsequently made, and an apology—I would submit, a sincere apology—was offered by the member in question. We can debate on this topic for the next six weeks, but we cannot and will not change what was said, corrected, and then apologized for.
Likewise, we also know from parliamentary precedent in previous rulings that this House has a long history of accepting apologies, even in cases touching upon the privileges of the House of Commons. The fact that this House has a long-standing precedent of accepting apologies is a source of frustration to some. Obviously, the motion of the NDP House leader represents that view, rather than to accept this apology.
The motion suggests that we send this matter to the procedure and House affairs committee where it could be studied further. What is there left to study? All the material facts are already before the House. The House is in a position to make a decision based on the facts that lie before it.
Not only does the House have the benefit of all the facts being laid out before it, but the hon. member for Mississauga—Streetsville rose in his place in the chamber and apologized. At the risk of sounding too direct, the House is basically tasked with accepting that apology or not. In that regard, the parliamentary precedent is very clear, much as the Speaker established in his ruling yesterday.
As each of us has undoubtedly experienced at one time or another, “sorry” can often be the hardest thing to say, but it is absolutely the right thing to do in a case like this. Apologies often go a long way in resolving an issue. So too do they here in the House.
It is interesting that the hon. member for Skeena—Bulkley Valley often speaks of the need to increase civility in this place. I would ask the member how we increase civility if we choose to reject the principles of accepting an apology from a member who asks for our forgiveness.
I can share an event that recently occurred in my riding of Okanagan—Coquihalla. Two weeks ago, the leader of the official opposition was in my beautiful riding. My riding, like many, is significantly impacted by the new electoral boundaries redistribution. While at a public event in my riding, the Leader of the Opposition made the claim that there was gerrymandering in this process. The Leader of the Opposition did this with no factual evidence and in the process impugned the reputations of three individuals tasked with the very difficult job of riding redistribution.
I should point out that the leader of the official opposition did not offer an apology for his comments, but I know that the good people of Okanagan—Coquihalla would accept an apology from the Leader of the Opposition if one were offered. That is why I can say quite firmly that I will not be voting in favour of the NDP motion. The citizens of Okanagan—Coquihalla do not seek punitive measures where a humble apology has already been tendered.
Before I close, I believe it is important that the House not create an environment where members are punished for doing the right thing, in this case offering an apology. Let us not forget that the member's apology and his comments will forever be on the record in Hansard.
This debate is about many things. That, I would submit, is why it is an important one. There are indeed frustrations and challenges with outcomes, as will be the case in this debate. However, we must be careful to balance those challenges and frustrations with how they can impact the ability of a member to essentially right a wrong and offer a sincere apology in the process.
This is an important debate, and I would submit that it needs to serve as a reminder to all members of the need to strive for accuracy in our comments and interactions. Let us also consider the need to have an avenue to correct our mistakes and to apologize when we have made an error. I believe that lessons will be learned from this debate, but they will not be enhanced by further study at a parliamentary committee. As such, I will not be supporting the motion.
I would also like to thank all members for taking this time to hear my comments. I realize that we may not agree on the outcome of this debate, but I believe that we all share the importance of having this discussion. I will be accepting the apology of the hon. member for Mississauga—Streetsville, and I ask that all members of the House vote against this motion.