Mr. Speaker, the exemption being sought by this motion in the Conflict of Interest Code “consists of being a party to a legal action relating to actions of the Member as a Member of Parliament”.
I would like the member's thoughts on this. It would appear to me that a party to a legal action could be the one, for instance, who is being sued as well as the person who is doing the suing. They are in fact a party to a legal action.
Does that mean that if a parliamentarian wants to launch a libel suit against someone in relation to matters relating to his or her duties as a member of Parliament, that member would also have to recuse himself or herself from participating in debates, in votes and in questioning on matters related to the lawsuit that the member may have brought? That raises a whole other kettle of fish because then it would put a member in a situation that if this current interpretation of the current code would stand, that a member will have to decide whether or not he or she wants to exercise his or her public rights and privileges of suing or giving up his or her privileges in the House.
This is a dilemma. I am sure it was never intended. I am sure that this kind of matter before us, this specific case, was never contemplated in terms of being a matter of pecuniary interest or private interest and that the issue of contingent liability raises very serious problems that will clearly impinge upon the constitutional privileges extended to members of Parliament.