I am now prepared to rule on the question of privilege raised by the hon. member for London North Centre on Friday, March 17, 2000. I would like to thank the member for having drawn this matter to the attention of the House. I would also like to than the hon. member for Lakeland, the hon. government House leader and other members for their assistance in bringing the facts of this situation before the House.
The hon. member for London North Centre, who chairs the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, indicated that the hon. member for Lakeland had, in his opinion, breached the privileges of all members by the premature disclosure of a draft report from the committee. This disclosure was made by way of a press conference which the hon. member for Lakeland held on March 16 using facilities provided by parliament after issuing a media advisory using CPAC and the internal communication services of the House. Subsequently, the charges against the hon. member for Lakeland were repeated in the first report of the citizenship and immigration committee tabled on March 21.
In responding to these charges on March 21, the hon. member for Lakeland raised a number of issues. He pointed out that there had been a deliberate decision of the committee at its meeting of March 2 to undertake the study of its draft report on refugee determination and illegal immigrants in public session. A motion to that effect can be found in the committee's minutes of proceedings of that date. The hon. member held that, while the meetings at which the draft report was considered may have actually been held in camera, the in camera nature of the meeting itself was contrary to an express decision of the committee. In protesting what he took to be an irregular proceeding of the committee, he made reference to an earlier ruling of the Chair given on October 9, 1997, in which all committees were cautioned that care is necessary in laying out the manner in which draft reports will be dealt with.
I want to say, first, that it is not the role of the Speaker to oversee the internal conduct of committees. Committees are masters of their own proceedings, and with that freedom goes the responsibility to see that they carry out their work in conformity with the appropriate rules and practices of this House.
The hon. member for Lakeland may well have a legitimate grievance with the manner in which the citizenship and immigration committee has conducted its affairs. However, when members disagree with decisions made by committee chairs, either tacitly or explicitly, our rules provide avenues either to appeal those decisions or to air those concerns openly in the committee before colleagues.
I have a different role to play. When a committee feels that a situation is so irregular that it must be reported to the House then this is where I am called on. As I mentioned earlier, a report on this incident was tabled by the chairman of the citizenship and immigration committee on March 21. The hon. member for Lakeland has stated that he quite consciously and deliberately held a press conference for the purpose of making public the contents of the draft report. He felt that he was entitled to take such action because the document was discussed by the committee during a meeting which he believed ought properly to have been a public meeting. Nonetheless, the minutes of the proceedings of the committee for March 16, 2000 clearly indicate that the meeting was held in camera. Similarly, the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration rejects the member's view for its states unequivocally in its first report:
The members of the committee considered the matter...and felt that their privileges had been breached and that the in camera process had been jeopardized because of the disclosure by the member for Lakeland, Alberta.
As Speaker, I am not called upon to judge the manner in which the committee reversed its earlier decision and, since the committee has seen fit to report this incident to the House, then I, as Speaker, I must take very seriously the committee's complaint.
Our rules are clear on the matter of the divulgation of a draft report. At page 884 of House of Commons Procedure and Practice members will find the following statement of principle:
Committee reports must be presented to the House before they can be released to the public.
It is further stated on the same page:
Even when a report is adopted in public session, the report itself is considered confidential until it has actually been presented in the House.
The Chair appreciates that this rule may, at times, prove inconvenient to some hon. members or to committees themselves and that there are divergent views on how committees should conduct their business when deliberating about the text of a report to the House. However, as you Speaker, I am bound by the rules as they exist. In the present case, I have concluded that I have no alternative but to find that a prima facie breach of privilege has occurred.
I invite the hon. member for London North Centre to put his motion.