Mr. Speaker, I want to specifically reference Standing Order 18. As we well know, it has to do with speaking disrespectfully against any member of the House.
Also, Standing Order 31 states, “The Speaker may order a Member to resume his or her seat if, in the opinion of the Speaker, improper use is made of this Standing Order”. I raise it because I believe it was October 27, 2009, when the issue of maligning members of Parliament had infiltrated statements by members and on a number of occasions the Speaker cautioned members, to the point where he issued a letter to the House leaders of all parties warning them. Since that time, he has in fact asked members to sit down.
Finally, with regard to the importance of the issue, if we look at the December 14 Hansard, page 7248, the response of the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, the way it was presented was to set it up to make it look like it was very different. There may have been formal conference dates of 4 days, but in fact there were 14 days of meetings going on. It was selective information that the minister used to make that allegation.