Mr. Speaker, I rise on a question of privilege regarding the premature and unauthorized disclosure of the minority report of the Special Committee on Non-Medical Use of Drugs, tabled this morning.
As you know, the contents of the reports of the various House committees have always been considered confidential, up until the moment reports are tabled in the House. Incidentally, page 884 of House of Commons Procedure and Practice is very clear on this, and I quote:
Committee reports must be presented to the House before they can be released to the public.
Furthermore, on the same page, it states:
Even when a report is adopted in public session, the report itself is considered confidential until it has actually been presented in the House. In addition, where a committee report has been considered and approved during in camera committee meetings, any disclosure of the contents of a report prior to presentation, either by Members or non-Members, may be judged a breach of privilege.
I know that the Chair has—on numerous occasions, including in the December 9, 1997 ruling by your predecessor, Speaker Parent—refused to recognize that there has been a breach of parliamentary privilege in cases of leaks of committee report contents before they were tabled in the House.
Mr. Speaker, the situation is different in this case. Judging by the various newspaper articles I sent to your office this morning, it seems clear that certain members of the Committee on Non-Medical Use of Drugs gave interviews which to a large extent enabled reporters to learn the contents of the report before it was even tabled here in the House.
I am referring to the interviews given by our colleague, the member for Laval East, and the Canadian Alliance member for Langley—Abbotsford. Such practices are unacceptable. They discredit the serious nature of the work of parliamentarians in general, and the work of the committee in particular.
The sources are clear. Our colleagues for Laval East and Langley—Abbotsford have clearly breached my privileges as a member of the committee. All MPs on that committee were contacted on numerous occasions to give interviews. We will all agree that this is a subject of interest to parliamentary reporters, but there cannot be a double standard here.
I would fault the member for Laval East in particular, since she belongs to the majority party and, as such, ought to exhibit exemplary conduct.
Mr. Speaker, I would ask you to bring down a ruling for once and for all. You are the guardian of our responsibilities. You are the guardian of our privileges as parliamentarians. If a member of this House does his level best in committee, but committees are not places where confidentiality or commitment and respect of one's word must prevail, and the Chair does not call a halt to certain practices which are becoming far too frequent, far too common, then I would respectfully submit that committee work will no longer have any meaning.
Mr. Speaker, I would ask that you entertain my question of privilege. If you authorize me to do so, I will move the appropriate motion under the Standing Orders.