I would like to return to the question of privilege raised yesterday by the hon. member for Roberval—Lac-Saint-Jean with respect to statements made by the hon. Minister of Industry in answers in reply to questions posed to him during question period that same day.
The hon. member alleges that the minister mislead the House by misrepresenting the position of Ms. Claudette Carbonneau of the CSN with respect to the older workers assistance program introduced by the government that same day.
The difficulty for the Chair in cases like this is that it would required the Speaker to be aware of all statements made at all times outside of this Chamber. It would leave the Chair in the impossible position of having to interpret and judge the content of these statements against the context of questions posed in the Chamber.
The hon. member for Roberval—Lac-Saint-Jean made his version of the facts known to the House following the minister's response. While the member may very well find the situation frustrating, I must find that it is a dispute as to the facts as opposed to a breach of his privileges as a member and those of the House.