Mr. Speaker, the hon. member for Kootenay--Columbia just raised a point stating that he considered it would be appropriate for someone to answer questions about regional responsibilities or responsibilities outside of the minister's administrative function.
I draw to the attention of the House page 426 of Marleau and Montpetit, which says very clearly that a question must lie within the administrative responsibility of the government or the individual minister addressed. The footnote refers to an intervention by the then speaker, the hon. John Bosley, in reference to Sinclair Stevens where at the time Mr. Stevens was asked a question regarding his personal behaviour and something having nothing to do with his department.
At the time the Speaker ruled that the question was out of order on the ground that it did not pertain to Mr. Stevens' responsibility as the minister. He further clarified that questions of a purely personal nature or otherwise were out of order, even if the borderline between what was personal and what was ministerial was not always evident. That was on May 8, 1986, pages 13081 and 13082 of Hansard .