Mr. Speaker, I rise again on three separate questions of privilege arising from the question of privilege that I raised yesterday.
Yesterday when I raised my question of privilege the table officers failed to follow the procedure of the House according to Beauchesne's. Citation 116 of Beauchesne's Parliamentary Rules and Forms , sixth edition, states:
Should a question of privilege be based on published material, the article in question must be submitted and read at the Table.
Yesterday I asked: “I have a copy of this memorandum for the Speaker. Does he want the article read now?”
Mr. Speaker, I am quoting from the blues because the official Hansard record does not record my asking you this question or your response. You responded, and again I quote from the blues, “I would like to have the article brought to”, and so on. Neither my question nor your response were included in the Commons Debates for October 21, 1997.
My first question of privilege is to ask that the official record of this House be amended to include my question and your response. I cannot defend my rights and privileges as a member in this House if the record does not accurately reflect what both you and I said in the House.
My second question of privilege relates to the fact that the memorandum which was delivered to you was not read as the procedures of this House say it must be done. I will not go into all the details here. I can explain it to you later. The record shows that you accepted that my question was in fact a question of privilege and only your ruling was held in abeyance.