Mr. Speaker, I would like to rise today to address the question of privilege raised by the member for Mirabel.
I have had the pleasure of working with my hon. colleague for four years now. I hope that he will agree that I have always been courteous and frank in my dealings with him and with all members of the House. However, in raising this question of privilege, the member accuses me of deliberately misleading the House during consideration of the main estimates in committee of the whole.
As we all know, procedures in committee of the whole can be lengthy and, in some cases, questions can be open to interpretation. A review of the transcripts will show that the member for Mirabel asked me:
Were these carbon tax rebate cheques that were sent out in the middle of an election to buy votes in eight provinces delivered without the tax that funded them being collected?
To that question, I simply replied, “Madam Chair, the answer is no.” I believe that it is simply wrong to describe the carbon tax payments as an attempt to buy votes, as the member implied in his question.
The date on which the rebate cheques were sent to Canadians is public knowledge. At no time did I mislead the House on this issue.
Mr. Speaker, I thank you for your attention to this matter, and I apologize for any misunderstanding. At no time did I attempt to mislead the House.