Colleagues, yesterday the hon. parliamentary secretary to the government House leader pursued the point of order raised by the hon. member for Roberval on Tuesday, September 19, 1995 relating to a question of the hon. member for Vaudreuil.
At that time, the hon. member for Roberval asked me to review the question the hon. member for Vaudreuil had put to the President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs. The hon. member for Roberval was wondering about the nature of this question and how it related to the responsibilities of the federal government.
Yesterday, the hon. parliamentary secretary to the government House leader expressed the opinion that the question was in order, as the minister is in fact responsible for intergovernmental issues.
I did review Hansard and I have come to the conclusion that, as formulated, the question asked by the hon. member for Vaudreuil does not strictly speaking meet the guidelines on oral questions. It was seeking an opinion from the minister instead of information on a matter coming within his administrative capacity.
The Chair should at least have cut in and asked that the question be restated in terms that related more closely to the government's administrative responsibilities. As a matter of fact, yesterday, the hon. member for Brome-Missisquoi asked a similar question in a way that meets the requirements of our rules.
All hon. members will no doubt sympathize with the Chair that in the cut and thrust of question period sometimes certain questions escape your Speaker. I take this opportunity to ask for all hon. members to co-operate with the Chair and formulate the questions so that they are strictly relevant to the administrative responsibilities of the government, that they are not based on hypotheses, and respect the dignity of this Chamber in the choice of vocabulary.