Mr. Speaker, I would like to add a few comments to those already made on the point of order raised by my colleague, the government House leader.
I want to say that none of the precedents cited by the Reform whip in any way suggest that the Speaker of the House is ever the voice of the government. Section 162 of Beauchesne says: “The Speaker of the House of Commons is the representative of the House itself in its powers, proceedings and dignities”.
This is understandable because section 163 of Beauchesne says “The Speaker is elected by the House itself”.
The Reform whip attempted to suggest that words of the Speaker of this House had some significance as words of the government because of the Speaker's place in the order of precedence. Let us take a look at section 166 of Beauchesne. It says: “The Speaker's rank is defined by Order in Council on December 19, 1968 in which it is provided”, and I go on to read: “that the Speaker shall have precedence immediately after the Governor General, the Prime Minister of Canada, the Chief Justice of Canada, former governors general, former prime ministers and the Speaker of the Senate and immediately before ambassadors and members of the cabinet”.
There is nothing whatsoever in this citation that suggests that whenever the Speaker expresses himself, whether in this House or outside this House, he is speaking on behalf of the government.
If the interpretation of the Reform whip of section 166 were accurate, then he himself would be attempting to argue that when the Chief Justice speaks, he is speaking on behalf of the government, or when the Governor General speaks he is speaking on behalf of the government. This is patently wrong and patently ridiculous.
With respect to the questions raised by the Leader of the Opposition, I do not think it is proper in the light of the precedents of this House for a question to even imply that the Speaker of the House is anything other than impartial and that anything he says is raised on behalf of the government. This is something that should be obvious to somebody in this place from the very first moment he enters this House.
Therefore, I underscore the points made by the government House leader and others that the remarks, the implications in the questions of the Leader of the Opposition were totally out of order. The implication suggested in the questions by the Leader of the Opposition that the press reports, assuming they were accurate, in any way meant that the person involved was speaking on behalf of the government is totally wrong. I respectfully suggest that the best way for things to be put back on their feet is for the Leader of the Opposition to come into this House, recognize what he did was wrong and express words of apology.
When the Reform Party first came to this House in some substantive number, its members said that they intended to bring a new tone to the House of Commons, a new atmosphere of civility. I wish they would look at their words at that point in time when they first entered the House and take these words seriously. They should have these words reflected in their actions today.
If the members of the Reform Party reflected on what they said at the opening of the 1993 Parliament and contrasted what they said with their actions today, they would feel ashamed of themselves. The best way to remove that shame is for the leader of the Reform Party to express words of apology. Mr. Speaker, I am sure that you and we would accept those words and we could get back to serving Canadians and serving the business of Canada.