Mr. Speaker, I rise on a question of privilege in respect to the answer of the Solicitor General to the question of the member for Crowfoot. The Solicitor General specifically referenced a current trial and made certain comments in respect to that trial. As a former provincial attorney general and a member of the House, I am very concerned that the comments of the Solicitor General may have prejudiced the fair trial of an accused.
I refer the House to the House of Commons Procedure and Practice , by Marleau and Montpetit, at page 534, which states:
The sub judice convention is first and foremost a voluntary restraint on the part of the House to protect an accused person, or other party to a court action or judicial inquiry, from suffering any prejudicial effect from public discussion of the issue.
I refer members also to page 535 where that is discussed further.
Because I do not want to repeat the comments, I would ask the Speaker to review the videotape and Hansard , review those comments and consider whether there is a prima facie matter of privilege vital to the public interest.