Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order to respond to a point of order that was raised in the House on May 18 in response to a question during question period by the hon. member for North Vancouver. He, subsequent to question period, raised a point of order in my absence, so this is the first opportunity that I have had to respond.
In my response, I apparently said something to which he took offence. I certainly would not do so and did not suggest any criticism of the hon. member; however, if my comments may have been taken that way I want to clarify for the record and respond of course that no insult was meant.
I certainly had no knowledge of a medical condition that he revealed during that point of order. I would never have made such a comment otherwise and I would like to withdraw the offending remarks which were: “it is nice to see the hon. member here”.