Mr. Speaker, first, let me give my apologies to the member. It is surely not my intention to interrupt his comments, and I will be pleased to yield the floor to him very quickly.
I am rising with regard to the point of order that was raised by the member Ottawa—Vanier and to the question posed by the House leader of the official opposition as to whether the Prime Minister should table a document that he used to respond to a question posed by the member for Laval—Les Îles during oral question period on May 17.
As you noted, Mr. Speaker, there is a provision that documents quoted are to be tabled, but there is also a provision that briefing notes prepared for ministers are not required to be tabled. If you review Hansard, it is evident that the Prime Minister did not quote, cite or refer to any document in his response. Citation 495(5) of Beauchesne's 6th edition states:
To be cited, a document must be quoted or specifically used to influence debate.
The Prime Minister was using the document as a briefing note and as you noted, Mr. Speaker, there is no requirement to table briefing notes.
As the House leader for the official opposition noted, the document the Prime Minister was using was also a cabinet document. However, the authorities are clear. Citation 495(2) of Beauchesne's states:
It has been admitted that a document which has been cited ought to be laid upon the Table of the House, if it can be done without injury to the public interest.
I can attest that the tabling the document would be contrary to the public interest on the grounds that it is a confidence of cabinet, dealing directly with national security measures, and I am not prepared to release this document as it could compromise the safety of our soldiers.
Again, I offer my apologies to the hon. member for the New Democratic Party.