Mr. Speaker, I bring to your attention the notice of question of privilege, which obviously I had in your hands prior to question period. It has to do with an article that appeared on page 6 of the November 26 edition of the Fredericton Daily Gleaner , one of New Brunswick's three provincial English-language newspapers.
The article was written by Jorge Barrera. He reports on my election as chairman of the Canadian section of the Canada-U.S. Parliamentary Group, which is a recognized group within Parliament, with a long and very proud history. Those elections were held on November 24. Many positions were hotly contested. You, Mr. Speaker, and other members could back me up on this that it was probably the most hotly contested election for one of the positions in the history of this place.
As honorary chairman of that association, you out of courtesy visited that meeting on the Wednesday evening of November 24. The presiding officer at the election for co-chairman on the House side also conducted the vote on the Senate side. Under co-chairmanship, we have a chairman from the Senate side and one from the House side. The Deputy Speaker of this House, an officer of this place, presided over the election. That was not by accident. Knowing full well that there was at least 200 to 250 members registered to vote that evening, we knew the procedure would have to be ironclad and it would have to be done properly. If I am correct, you, Mr. Speaker, were originally approached to do that. However, because you were busy that evening, it was delegated to your Deputy Speaker to conduct the vote.
Knowing full well that it was hotly contested, the Deputy Speaker wanted to ensure that the membership knew clearly how the rules would be laid out and how they would be applied. He wanted to ensure that they were consistent with the constitution of that body, which they were. There was clarification sought from the floor. There was unanimous agreement among all members, including the member from Saint John, New Brunswick, who I am questioning as to why he would say what did. I will quote that in a minute.
There was unanimous agreement, including agreement from the member from Saint John, New Brunswick, who I beat in that chairmanship race in a vote recorded that evening. I will quote from the newspaper article in question, the November 26 edition of the Fredericton Daily Gleaner . The member from Saint John, New Brunswick, said, “Everyone assumed (vice-chair) was the position [the member for New Brunswick Southwest] wanted and he had applied for co-chair”. He said that it was unfortunate. This is where it becomes very problematic for the member for Saint John, Mr. Speaker, because he is questioning the integrity of your position. I point out that in Marleau and Montpetit, at page 298, it talks about the authority of the Speaker. It says:
Every action of the Deputy Speaker, when acting in the Speaker's place, has the same effect and validity as if the Speaker had acted; or, in the terms of the Parliament of Canada Act:
Every act done and warrant, order or other document issued, signed or published by a Deputy Speaker...that relates to any proceedings of the House of Commons--
We know full well that its a body that the House of Commons recognizes. It continues:
--or that, under any statute, would be done, issued, signed or published by the Speaker, if then able to act, has the same effect and validity as if it had been done, issued, signed or published by the Speaker.
He is calling into question the integrity of the Deputy Speaker of this place and the integrity of that committee. He said, “Unfortunately the committee”, which reflects on all of us, Liberals, Conservatives, NDP and Bloc, “decided not to follow the rules, leaving the Liberals following the rules”. That is not accurate and it is not true. The member himself was in that room when the Speaker sought clarification of how the rules were to be interpreted and applied, and he gave his consent. That is disingenuous at the least.
I believe there is a prima facie case of the integrity of the House and every member in it, the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker and the Senate. I believe it is contempt. At the very minimum, I believe you, Mr. Speaker, the Deputy Speaker, this place, including the Senate, deserve an apology from the member for Saint John for acting in that very callous, disrespectful, irresponsible way toward you, the House and all members.
At the minimum, I believe all members deserve an apology. I hope that other members will take part in this in an attempt to lay out clearly before the Chair what happened the night of November 24 when the member for Saint John lost a very hotly contested election. It is sour grapes at the best.