Mr. Speaker, I beg your indulgence to raise a point of order which touches on a ruling made by the Chair in debate during private members' hour last night.
I want to assure you off the top, Mr. Speaker, that I intend no disrespect toward you. I seek only explanation and clarification.
In debate last night I used the word "meanspirited". That word was ruled by the Speaker as being unparliamentary. I must say that I was surprised but I withdrew the word immediately.
Mr. Speaker, I am looking for guidance and clarification from you because I do not find the offending word in Beauchesne's and I wonder whether we have wandered unintentionally into territory where there is undue restriction on expression in this House.
I appreciate that the Chair made similar rulings on November 23 and November 25 past, but my examination of those rulings leads me to believe they are based more or less on context. In other words, I do not see "meanspirited"-