Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the motion by the member for Pictou—Antigonish—Guysborough. Again, as the last speaker said, this has nothing to do with flag waving or singing songs; it has everything to do with an attempt to influence your decision and intimidate, as far as I am concerned.
If you consider that members from the government party and the official opposition both took a position that said if you did not as Speaker make a decision that they wanted that they would make every effort they could to remove you as Speaker, I think that has to be intimidation and a deliberate attempt to influence your decision. If you consider the timing, this is what is critical here. Had they made these comments after your decision, that would be one thing, that they should question your decision, but to do it just before your making a decision is a deliberate attempt to try to influence your decision.
In the newspaper article in question none of the members talked about their position. They did not try to support their position. All they did was try to intimidate the Speaker by the threats, as it says here in the newspaper article: “we'll demand Parent's removal as Speaker if he rules in favour”. As another member said: “There will be grave consequences if he doesn't rule in favour”. Two other members warned “that Parent will face demands for his resignation if he does not rule it the way we want him to rule”.
In my view, there is no question about this being a deliberate attempt to influence your decision. As the previous speaker said, I urge all members to make this a unanimous decision to have this go to committee and have it resolved.