Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. A Globe and Mail story today claims to have a copy of a confidential draft report of the Standing Committee on Finance in regard to its prebudget consultations. The story begins:
The high-profile House of Commons finance committee wants Ottawa to tap surplus cash to slash taxes across the board--
This statement is false. The committee began considering the report yesterday, but had not considered or approved any of the recommendations mentioned in the Globe and Mail article.
As chair of the Standing Committee on Finance, I decided that it would be of assistance to members in their work, unlike previous years, if they were permitted to take one copy of the confidential draft report away with them. It appears that my trust was misplaced, as has that of the many members of the committee who are not responsible for this leak.
Whoever is responsible for this leak clearly intended to give a false impression to the public and may even have been trying to sabotage the committee's consideration for this draft report.
In any case, it certainly constitutes interference with a committee that is trying to exercise its responsibilities under the rules of the House.
The committee is continuing to work toward its very tight deadline for producing a report but has asked me, as its chair, for guidance from the Speaker with regard to dealing with an unacceptable interference with its work.