Madam Speaker, I am rising to respond to the question of privilege raised on November 5 by the member for Joliette—Manawan respecting the budget documents distributed during the budget lock-up and for the budget presentation in the House. The member alleges that the physical budget documents distributed in the lock-up and in the House did not contain all of the information contained in the budget that was tabled on November 4 by the hon. Minister of Finance and National Revenue.
I can confirm to this House that the budget documents that were tabled by the Minister of Finance in the House at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, November 4, were complete and contained all required information. These documents represent the official documents relating to the 2025 budget. With respect to the budget lock-up, there are many Speakers' rulings that substantiate that these venues are not proceedings of Parliament and are offered to parliamentarians as a courtesy to assist parliamentarians in preparation for the budget debate.
On March 6, 1997, on matters related to budget secrecy, the availability of budget documents and the budget lock-up, Speaker Parent ruled:
On the issue of budget secrecy, perhaps it would be helpful to remind all members of what Speaker Sauvé pointed out in a decision she gave to the House on April 19, 1983 at page 24649 of the Debates:
-budget secrecy is a political convention. So also is the practice whereby the minister presents his budget in the House before declaring it in any other public forum.
I agree with Speaker Sauvé. It would not be proper for the Chair to get involved in the interpretation of budget secrecy, nor the matter of the lock-up.
As for the issue of privilege...let me quote again Speaker Sauvé. In a decision which can be found in the Debates of November 18, 1981 at page 12898 she stated that:
-a breach of budget secrecy cannot be dealt with as a matter of privilege.
With respect to the assertion of the member for Joliette—Manawan that the budget he was provided with in the House was not complete, I would refer the member, and indeed all members of this House, to what the former minister of state and leader of the government in the House of Commons stated on February 26, 2003, with respect to which document constitutes the official budgetary policy of the government:
First, it is not the budget statement that is made in the House, that is the budget itself. It is the instrument that is tabled by the minister prior to him reading the budget statement. Mr. Speaker will no doubt know this as indeed would most hon. members. The document that was tabled in the House constitutes the budgetary document of the government.
The budget documents distributed to members in the lock-up, as well as the budget documents distributed to members in the House, are a courtesy to assist members in preparing for the budget debate. The official and complete budget document was tabled by the Minister of Finance and National Revenue on November 4, immediately preceding the budgetary speech.
It is for these reasons that neither allegation raised by the member for Joliette—Manawan constitutes a breach of the privilege of the members of this House.
That being said, the government is of the firm view that all members should be afforded the opportunity to be informed of the content of the budget as a courtesy to assist in the discharge of their parliamentary functions. As a result, the government will continue to work with all parties to ensure that they have the information they need, in the format of their preference, to assist them in their parliamentary functions.