I am now prepared to rule on the question of privilege raised by the hon. member for Provencher on Wednesday, June 4, 2003, in respect to a response made by the hon. Solicitor General to a question raised by the hon. member for Crowfoot.
I would like to thank the hon. member for having raised this matter as well as the hon. government House leader and the right hon. member for Calgary Centre for their contributions on this question.
The hon. member for Provencher, in raising this question, alleged that in responding to a question raised by the hon. member for Crowfoot regarding the terrorist bombing of Air India flight 182, the hon. Solicitor General specifically made reference to the trial currently underway regarding the incident.
The member raised his concern that the Solicitor General's comments could have an influence on the fair trial of the accused in this case. He made reference to page 534 of the House of Commons Procedure and Practice regarding the onus placed on members of the House to respect the sub judice convention in order to protect the accused from suffering any prejudicial effect from public discourse on the issue.
I undertook to review the videotapes and transcripts of the exchange between the hon. Solicitor General and the hon. member for Crowfoot and to come back to the House should I feel it necessary.
In reviewing the Debates and the tapes, following oral question period, I must say that I share some concerns about the response of the hon. Solicitor General in regards to the Air India trial. I would draw the attention of hon. members to page 428 of House of Commons Procedure and Practice where it clearly states that:
It is deemed improper for a member, in posing a question, or a Minister, in responding to a question, to comment on any matter that is sub judice.
The hon. Solicitor General himself stated that it would be inappropriate to initiate a public inquiry while the court case is ongoing and I believe that he might, on reflection, have exercised greater caution in providing his response to the question of the hon. member for Crowfoot.
While the Speaker has the final responsibility to determine whether a subject matter raised during the consideration of oral questions is sub judice, the responsibility to show restraint in commenting on any matter before the courts lies with members of the House.
In this regard I would draw the attention of hon. members to a ruling made by Mr. Speaker Parent on April 6, 1995, on a very similar question of privilege wherein he noted that the approach of most Chair occupants has been to discourage all comments on sub judice matters rather than to allow members to experiment within the limits of the convention and to test the Speaker's discretion. This is especially important, given that it is speculative to determine how a comment might influence a matter before the courts.
Accordingly, while I do not feel that the hon. Solicitor General's response breaches the sub judice convention in such a significant way that it constitutes a breach of the privileges of this place or its members, I would caution all hon. members to exercise greater discretion in debate and during oral questions when they are dealing with matters that are before the courts.