Mr. Speaker, I rise today as a member of Parliament for Glengarry—Prescott—Russell and I am pleased that you have recognized me as such regarding this matter before you concerning member statements, also known as S. O. 31s, and the rights of members of Parliament, a matter which is of interest and which affects each member in the House.
As an elected member of Parliament, I greatly value our right to freedom of speech in the House. It is a right that is strongly protected and defended by the rules governing this place. O'Brien and Bosc on page 59 states that:
The rights accorded to the House and its Members to allow them to perform their parliamentary functions unimpeded are referred to as privileges or immunities.
Also, on page 89 it states:
By far, the most important right accorded to Members of the House is the exercise of freedom of speech in parliamentary proceedings.
It goes on to say:
[...] a fundamental right without which they would be hampered in the performance of their duties. It permits them to speak in the House without inhibition, to refer to any matter or express any opinion as they see fit, to say what they feel needs to be said in the furtherance of the national interest and the aspirations of their constituents.
It is evident that members have certain privileges and immunities to allow the maximum use of this freedom of speech. Some members have risen to indicate to you, Mr. Speaker, that there have been occasions where they have been denied the opportunity to raise certain subject matters in their S. O. 31 statements. It is clear that the House considers it extremely important for an MP to have freedom of speech to the fullest extent possible and that this fullest extent would naturally extend to the freedom to raise a subject matter on which to speak, as one cannot utilize the freedom of speech privileges and immunities established in the House if one cannot rise to speak in the first place. I believe this highlights the importance of the S. O. 31 issue presently before you.
S. O. 31s are one of the only opportunities that a member of Parliament has to speak to a matter that is not constrained by a debate already before the House. For example, when debate is on a particular bill or motion, an MP cannot raise a completely unrelated matter. I know you are as generous as possible, Mr. Speaker, in allowing latitude in terms of an MP's remarks in debate, but if the matter raised by the MP is not germane to the debate, he or she would be ruled out of order. In other words, when an MP rises to speak in the House, his or her comments must be relevant to the matter in front of the House at that time except when giving an S. O. 31.
The S. O. 31 offers a unique opportunity to an MP to speak on any matter and, as a result, MP privileges in this regard must be protected. Allow me to provide a concrete and relevant example of what I mean.
Last Thursday, March 28, the procedure and House affairs committee tabled a report in this place that rendered Motion No. 408 non-votable, a most surprising and disappointing determination. As the House knows, Motion No. 408 reads as follows:
That the House condemn discrimination against females occurring through sex-selective pregnancy termination.
Mr. Speaker, as you know, there are clear criteria that have been established by the committee on procedure and House affairs by which bills and motions may be determined to be votable or non-votable. When Motion No. 408 is reviewed with respect to these criteria, one readily arrives at the conclusion that Motion No. 408 is votable and should have been deemed so.
Motion No. 408 being a motion and not a bill is an expression of condemnation, the type of which the House has expressed many times on a wide variety of issues. By inviting the House to condemn discrimination against females, Motion No. 408 is within the federal jurisdiction and it does not violate the Constitution Acts. An independent analyst, whose responsibility it is to research and be knowledgeable in these matters, was clear that Motion No. 408 did not concern questions that were substantially the same as ones already voted on by the House of Commons during this current session of Parliament. As the member for Langley pointed out, no other piece of government or private member's business has called on Parliament to condemn discrimination against women and girls occurring through sex-selective pregnancy termination.
Last, I would point out that there is widespread support for a motion such as Motion No. 408, and I think we saw this when the CBC televised its program on the airways.
Motion No. 408 is the first motion of its kind. It clearly meets the criteria for votability and it is therefore votable, and herein lies the problem and the importance of freedom of speech for S. O. 31s. In short, I do not support the determination that Motion No. 408 is non-votable. It is important to note as well that this determination of non-votability infringes on my right to vote on a matter before the House that should be votable. In fact, the right to vote on a matter is the natural extension of the right to freedom of speech.
In one sense, voting for or against a motion or bill is the final word in a debate. It is a decisive action upon a matter before the House, an action that is deliberately taken once all is said and done, so to speak.
Motion No. 408 should be votable and I believe many Canadians and members in this place know it should indeed be votable.
As I mentioned, the determination of non-votability infringes upon the natural conclusion of freedom of speech, that of being able to vote on a matter. Because of this, it is my hope that the member for Langley will appeal this determination of Motion No. 408 being non-votable to the House so MPs may reflect upon their rights and privileges and correct what has taken place.
The matter I have just spoken to relates to S. O. 31s, in that I am now receiving correspondence from constituents asking my view on this matter. Do I agree or disagree with the determination of non-votability? Do I defend this decision? Have I spoken publicly on this? This is indeed the challenge. If I were not to speak on this matter, it would be reasonable for my constituents to assume that I support the finding of non-votability, when this is clearly not the case. This would apply to my colleagues in all parties if they too disagreed with Motion No. 408 being declared non-votable and were prevented from saying so in this place.
Today I am fortunate to participate in the question of privilege raised by the member for Langley, but if there were no relevant question of privilege before the House, the only other opportunity to raise such a matter would be in an S. O. 31 statement. For this reason, a member of Parliament must have maximum freedom of speech in speaking to an issue such as this, but more important, being able to raise it in the first place. I say this because it is conceivable that, if a member were prevented from being able to speak about Motion No. 408 itself, it is equally conceivable that they could also be prevented from speaking about their views on the non-votability of Motion No. 408.
It would indeed be an infringement on the rights and privileges of a member of Parliament if members were not able to rise to clarify their position on such important matters, or to give voice to the concerns of their constituents.
Lastly, it is possible for the current S. O. 31 convention to change and I would suggest that it would be possible for you to manage S. O. 31s in the same way as you do petitions, Mr. Speaker. When the time comes to table petitions, it is you, Mr. Speaker, who recognizes MPs.
As Speaker, I have noted you very capably find the appropriate balance by rotating between members of different parties. I also note there is no pre-screening of petitions before they are tabled. A member simply rises and when recognized, tables a petition, and it can be on any subject.
I conclude by stating that I support the question of privilege raised by the member for Langley and that members must be afforded the greatest opportunity in latitude in being able to raise important matters and fully represent those Canadians they have been elected to represent.
