Madam Speaker, I am rising to respond to the question of privilege raised by the hon. member for Thornhill on October 7.
We believe that all Canadians have a right to peaceful protest. However, my intervention strictly deals with whether this matter constitutes a prima facie question of privilege.
The member cited House of Commons Procedures and Practice, third edition, at page 107, which states, “In order to fulfill their parliamentary duties, Members should be able to go about their parliamentary business undisturbed.”
The member also cited page 110, which states:
Incidents involving physical obstruction—such as traffic barriers, security cordons and union picket lines either impeding Members’ access to the Parliamentary Precinct or blocking their free movement within the precinct—as well as occurrences of physical assault...have been found to be prima facie cases of privilege.
Both of these citations refer to members being impeded because members have parliamentary privilege. The situation that the member describes does not involve members and, as such, this does not constitute a question of privilege.