House of Commons Hansard #144 of the 35th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was copyright.

Topics

Privilege

10 a.m.

The Speaker

I am now ready to rule on the question of privilege raised on March 4, 1997 by the hon. member for Laurier-Sainte-Marie, concerning a Health Canada advertisement published in certain daily newspapers.

I would like to thank the members who spoke to this matter on the following day, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, the hon. member for Lethbridge, the chief government whip, the hon. members for York-South Weston, Joliette and St. Albert.

In his statement, the hon. member for Laurier-Sainte-Marie said that an advertisement placed by Health Canada, which appeared in Quebec's major newspapers on March 4, 1997 concerning the "anti-tobacco law", was false and affected the privileges of the House. He said that the advertisement assumed that the House had already enacted Bill C-71, whereas this was not the case. By unanimous consent, he tabled a copy of the advertisement.

I have carefully examined the advertisements in question. In their statements, the hon. members for Laurier-Sainte-Marie and Lethbridge drew a parallel between the case before us now and one that was the subject of a ruling by Speaker Fraser in October 1989. Although both cases concern advertising in relation to not-yet enacted legislative provisions, there are certain basic differences that make the comparison dubious. Before elaborating on these obvious differences, I would first like to remind the House of the circumstances surrounding the 1989 incident.

On August 26, 1989 the Department of Finance published an advertisement concerning the goods and services tax, the GST, in newspapers across the country. Although the GST legislation had not yet been given first reading the advertisement read as follows:

On January 1, 1991, Canada's Federal Sales Tax System will change. Please save this notice. It explains the changes and the reasons for them.

On September 25, 1989, the then Leader of the Opposition, the right hon. John Turner, raised a question of privilege on this issue, arguing that the advertisement as published constituted a contempt of Parliament. On October 10, 1989, at pages 4457 to 4461 of the Debates , Speaker Fraser stated that the purpose of the advertisement was not intended to tarnish the dignity of the House and that, accordingly, there was no prima facie contempt of Parliament. He thought, however, that the advertisement was ill-conceived.

Similarly in a recent case before the Ontario legislature Speaker Stockwell dealt with a question of privilege concerning government advertising. It was alleged that whereas legislation had yet to be adopted by the assembly a pamphlet was issued by the minister of municipal affairs and housing regarding the government's program for reforming municipal governments in metropolitan Toronto.

On January 22, 1997 Speaker Stockwell considered that the contents of this brochure were worded in a very definitive way and conveyed the impression that passage of the required legislation was not necessary. Consequently, the Speaker determined that a prima facie case of contempt had been established.

On the basis of the two examples just examined and with particular attention to the wording of the advertisement published by Health Canada, I am of the view that this situation is quite different. On the one hand, the 1989 advertisement concerned specific provisions of the GST legislation and was worded a style that might be described as a categorical affirmation.

On the other hand, the Health Canada advertisement appears to me to be primarily of an informative nature: certain statements are

made about the use of tobacco in Quebec, ending with the slogan "J'appuie la loi anti-tabac-C'est une question de santé".

As has been pointed out in discussions on that issue, there is nothing that indicates that Bill C-71 has been enacted or even that a particular provision of it will come into force on a specific date. Also, the English version of the same advertisement refers to "anti-tobacco legislation". In my opinion, it cannot be concluded that this advertisement gives the impression that the House has already passed Bill C-71.

In the case before us, the Speaker's role is to determine whether the Health Canada advertisement constitutes a prima facie breach of the privileges of the House. Like the hon. member for Joliette, I have been unable to find malicious intentions'' or an attempt atfalse representation'' on the part of the government representatives.

Is this advertisement false and did it tend to diminish the authority of the House in the eyes of the public? In the light of the facts that have been presented to me, I do not think so and, in the absence of evidence to that effect, the Speaker finds it impossible to conclude that the advertisement in question is a prima facie breach of the privileges of the House.

In a decision handed down on June 12, 1996 concerning government advertising for Bill 33 on drug insurance, the Speaker of the Quebec National Assembly, Jean-Pierre Charbonneau, stated, at page 2094 of the Journal des débats :

The constituted authorities are fully entitled, in our political system, to publish their decisions and choices affecting their area of jurisdiction."

I share the views of Speaker Charbonneau. The government has the right to communicate with the public and inform it of its policies and its programs. On the other hand, where the government issues communications to the public containing allusions to measures before the House, it would be advisable to choose words and terms that leave no doubt as to the disposition of these measures. The use of certain terms or, in the words of the Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House, "colloquialisms that are not, strictly speaking, precise" may occasionally give rise to unwanted interpretations.

Those whose duty it is to approve the wording of communications to the public for a minister must surely be aware that the terms used in parliamentary language have a very specific meaning. Trying to avoid them or to use them for advertising purposes shows a lack of consideration for the institution of Parliament and the role of the members in the legislative process. If there is no ambiguity in the choice of terms the public will be better served and the House can get on with its work without being called upon to resolve the difficulty caused by such misunderstanding.

Once again, I thank the hon. member for Laurier-Sainte-Marie for bringing this matter to the attention of the Speaker.

Government Response To PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

10:10 a.m.

Fundy Royal New Brunswick

Liberal

Paul Zed LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Leader of the Government in the House of Commons

Madam Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's response to five petitions.

Customs ActRoutine Proceedings

10:15 a.m.

Saint-Léonard Québec

Liberal

Alfonso Gagliano Liberalfor the Minister of National Revenue

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-89, an act to amend the Customs Act and the Criminal Code.

(Motion deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed.)

Depository Bills And Notes ActRoutine Proceedings

10:15 a.m.

Scarborough East Ontario

Liberal

Doug Peters Liberalfor Minister of Finance

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-90, an act respecting depository bills and notes and to make a related amendment to another act.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed.)

Constitution Act, 1997 (Representation)Routine Proceedings

10:15 a.m.

Liberal

Pat O'Brien Liberal London—Middlesex, ON

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-385, an act to amend the Constitution Act, 1867.

Madam Speaker, it is an honour for me to propose a private member's bill. It seeks to impose a cap on the number of members of the House of Commons at 301, which will be the new number following the next election.

The bill respects all existing constitutional guarantees to such provinces as Prince Edward Island and does not seek in any way to ignore the reality of a place like Labrador where there are some 30,000 people on an enormous land mass. The bill proposes to limit the number or cap it at the new number of 301 following the next election because common sense would indicate that we simply

cannot continue to add members to the House of Commons continually as it would become an unmanageable size.

I am pleased to propose this bill today and I look forward to engaging in debate on it when that time comes.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed.)

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

10:15 a.m.

Liberal

Marlene Catterall Liberal Ottawa West, ON

Madam Speaker, I have the honour to present a petition from a number of constituents who point out that the 30,000 nuclear weapons which exist in the world pose a threat to the health and survival of humanity; that the most safe, sure and swift way to deal with the threat of nuclear arms is to do away with them completely.

They ask that Parliament support the immediate initiation and conclusion by the year 2000 of an international convention for a timetable for the elimination of all nuclear weapons.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

10:15 a.m.

Reform

Bill Gilmour Reform Comox—Alberni, BC

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to present two petitions on behalf of my constituents of Comox-Alberni.

The first contains 516 signatures, which brings the total number of signatures to over 6,000. This is significant since it represents over 10 per cent of the voters in my riding.

The petitioners request that Parliament allow Canadian citizens to vote directly in a national binding referendum on the restoration of the death penalty for first degree murder convictions.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

10:20 a.m.

Reform

Bill Gilmour Reform Comox—Alberni, BC

Mr. Speaker, the second petition contains 498 signatures.

The petitioners bring attention to the fact that British Columbia has a senatorial selection act which allows for the election of British Columbia senators. They also draw attention to the fact that British Columbia Senator Len Marchand will resign his Senate seat shortly.

Therefore, these petitioners call on Parliament to urge the Governor General to appoint a duly elected person to the forthcoming vacant British Columbia seat in the Senate of Canada. I fully concur with my constituents.

Questions On The Order PaperRoutine Proceedings

March 13th, 1997 / 10:20 a.m.

Fundy Royal New Brunswick

Liberal

Paul Zed LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Leader of the Government in the House of Commons

Madam Speaker, I ask that all questions be allowed to stand.

Questions On The Order PaperRoutine Proceedings

10:20 a.m.

The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Ringuette-Maltais)

Is that agreed?

Questions On The Order PaperRoutine Proceedings

10:20 a.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

Canada Labour CodeGovernment Orders

10:20 a.m.

Saint-Léonard Québec

Liberal

Alfonso Gagliano LiberalMinister of Labour and Deputy Leader of the Government in the House of Commons

Madam Speaker, I move:

That in relation to Bill C-66, an act to amend the Canada Labour Code (Part I) and the Corporations and Labour Unions Returns Act and to make consequential amendments to other acts, not more than one further sitting day shall be allotted to the consideration of the third reading stage of the bill and that 15 minutes before the expiry of the time provided for government business on the day allotted to the consideration of the third reading stage of the said bill, any proceedings before the House shall be interrupted, if required for the purpose of this Order, and in turn every question necessary for the disposal of the stage of the bill then under consideration shall be put forthwith and successively without further debate or amendment.

Canada Labour CodeGovernment Orders

10:20 a.m.

Some hon. members

Shame, shame.

Canada Labour CodeGovernment Orders

10:20 a.m.

The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Ringuette-Maltais)

Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the said motion?

Canada Labour CodeGovernment Orders

10:20 a.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

Canada Labour CodeGovernment Orders

10:20 a.m.

Some hon. members

No.

Canada Labour CodeGovernment Orders

10:20 a.m.

The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Ringuette-Maltais)

All those in favour will please say yea.

Canada Labour CodeGovernment Orders

10:20 a.m.

Some hon. members

Yea.

Canada Labour CodeGovernment Orders

10:20 a.m.

The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Ringuette-Maltais)

All those opposed will please say nay.

Canada Labour CodeGovernment Orders

10:20 a.m.

Some hon. members

Nay.

Canada Labour CodeGovernment Orders

10:20 a.m.

The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Ringuette-Maltais)

In my opinion the yeas have it.

And more than five members having risen:

Canada Labour CodeGovernment Orders

10:20 a.m.

The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Ringuette-Maltais)

It has already been decided that any recorded division requested with regard to business pursuant to Standing Order 78 on March 13, 1997 be deferred until the conclusion of Government Orders on March 17, 1997.

The House proceeded to the consideration of Bill C-32, an act to amend the Copyright Act, as reported (with amendments), from the committee.

Copyright ActGovernment Orders

10:25 a.m.

Lethbridge Alberta

Reform

Ray Speaker ReformLethbridge

Madam Speaker, just as a point of information, the hon. minister moved the motion on a point of order. I wonder if that is the proper place for this motion to be moved or whether it should be under government motions. Could you clarify that for me?

Copyright ActGovernment Orders

10:25 a.m.

The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Ringuette-Maltais)

The minister moved it at the appropriate time as per Standing Order 78(2)(b) which is during orders of the day.