Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Timiskaming—Cochrane.
The debate today cannot be separated from the incident in the House on February 26 from which it arose. If we go back to that incident we will find that there was some anger and concern on both sides of the House with remarks attributed to the hon. member for Rimouski—Mitis in far away Japan. As reported, the remarks were deemed offensive by a number of people. I believe this is what produced the incident.
I have since seen an explanation of it by the hon. member for Rimouski—Mitis. As many of us know from her work in committee, she has been a good committee person and has been respectful of House rules in her conduct. I have seen the explanation since, but in the origins I think there was an anger in her remarks that was considered intemperate and offensive to many members.
What happened I think needs to be traced. On February 23 I was told to look in my desk in the House. When I looked in, I found a small flag with a note which read “As a loyal Canadian, please wave this flag the first time Suzanne Tremblay, BQ, stands to speak in question period”.