Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order.
Yesterday in the House the Prime Minister stated in reference to Canada's participation in Bush's missile defence that the government “will make the decision when it is in Canada's interest to do so”. The Prime Minister referred further to the decision that the government “eventually takes on ballistic missile defence”.
The Prime Minister did not say the decision that the government has made. He clearly stated, the decision that the government “eventually takes”.
Earlier today the foreign affairs minister regrettably failed to afford parliamentarians the courtesy of making a ministerial statement on the government's missile defence decision. It is regrettable because it denied opposition members from each party the customary opportunity to fully respond in Parliament to the government's decision. That was offensive but not contemptuous of Parliament in the strict sense.
What does constitute contempt for Parliament is for the Prime Minister to deliberately mislead the House as he did yesterday when he pretended that the government had not yet made a decision on Canada's participation in missile defence when that was clearly not the truth. The foreign affairs minister earlier today confirmed that the government decision was not only already made when the Prime Minister made his misleading statements here in the House, but the government's decision had already been communicated to Condoleezza Rice, to our American neighbours.
In view of this contempt of the House, I would respectfully request that the Prime Minister be asked to rise in the House and correct the record as to when the government reached and communicated its decision about Canadian non-participation in missile defence.