Madam Speaker, yesterday I indicated that I would return to the House to provide further comment on the question of privilege raised with reference to the Minister of Natural Resources. Therefore, I would like to make a short supplementary intervention on the question of privilege concerning the government response to Order Paper question 152.
Specifically, I would like to address the allegations on the executive travel of the Minister of Natural Resources. The crux of question152 is whether a minister used a rented limousine while on official business. The Minister of Natural Resources responded:
Insofar as Natural Resources Canada is concerned, the Minister of Natural Resources did not use rented limousines while on official business.
The answer provided by the Minister of Natural Resources not only directly answers the question but does so accurately. Let me explain.
The Department of Natural Resources Canada rented two sedans and shuttle buses for members of an official delegation to the North American energy ministers meeting. While members of the delegation were transported in sedans, the minister used the shuttle bus for transportation. At no time did the minister use a rented limousine while on official business.
As I stated yesterday in my intervention on this matter, the hon. member opposite is simply looking to initiate a debate on question 152. I will remind the House that responses to Order Paper questions are not to be used as an opportunity for debate. This is a dispute about the facts. A disagreement about the content of a response is merely that: a disagreement about facts and not a question of privilege.
Speaker Fraser, in his May 15, 1991 ruling, stated:
The difficulty that is always with the Chair in these cases is that there are often very great differences of interpretation on the answers given. It is not a question of privilege; it is a question of disagreement over certain facts and answers that were given.
Again, I submit that the matter the member has raised is not a question of privilege but rather is a dispute about the facts.