Tom Lukiwski

[Motions for Papers, February 6th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I ask that all notices of motions for the production of papers be allowed to stand.

[Questions on the Order Paper, February 6th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I ask that all questions be allowed to stand.

[Questions on the Order Paper, February 5th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I ask that all questions be allowed to stand.

[Privilege, February 4th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I will let my intervention stand on its own merit.

However, quite frankly, as I pointed out in my intervention, all members of Parliament have leverage at their disposal to obtain information from the government, questions on the order paper being the most common.

I would suggest for the member opposite that the levers I speak of are certainly available to him in his capacity as a member of Parliament. Again, I would point out to you, Mr. Speaker, that in precedents of years of questions of this sort being raised to the Chair the rulings have been consistent.

I do not believe the member's privileges have been violated. I ask you, Mr. Speaker, to please, if you could in your capacity, make yet another ruling supporting my intervention and do so as quickly as possible.

[Privilege, February 4th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I rise in my capacity as Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons in response to a question of privilege that was made on Thursday by the hon. member for Ottawa—Vanier.

I have had the opportunity to review the Hansard of his intervention and that on Friday by the House leader of the official opposition in his Hansard interventions. The hon. member for Skeena—Bulkley Valley also offered some precedents, which I would commend to the Chair. I also want to acknowledge the hon. gentleman's sagacity in citing those cases despite the fact he sits in opposition to the government which in its own nature makes me question his sagacity on a number of other issues, but I digress.

Besides the interventions you have already heard, Mr. Speaker, I would like to add two more authorities to those before you to assist the Chair in preparing a ruling.

As the government House leader remarked in his initial comments last week, the hon. member did not mention one of his parliamentary duties or responsibilities as a member of the House of Commons. Instead he referred to a matter of constituency business.

Page 117 of House of Commons Procedure and Practice, second edition, offers a categorical summary of how the Chair has approached these issues:

In instances where Members have claimed that they have been obstructed or harassed, not directly in their roles as elected representatives but while being involved in matters of a political or constituency-related nature, Speakers have consistently ruled that this does not constitute privilege.

Finally, Sir, I offer a ruling of Mr. Speaker Milliken from February 12, 2003. The following passage from page 3470 of Debates would, I suggest, give guidance on distinguishing between occasions when questioning officials is and is not a matter for privilege. Again, I quote:

Members have an undeniable right to question and obtain information from the government in order to discharge their responsibilities of oversight. This function is chiefly carried out in two ways: by asking questions of government—

That is to say, to ministers and parliamentary secretaries here in the chamber.

—either during question period or by way of written questions, and through inquiries carried out by committees of the House. Both of these proceedings are protected by the full weight of parliamentary privilege. It is not the case, however, that the privilege to seek such information extends to every aspect of a member's activity.

In conclusion, when the facts advanced by the hon. member, regardless of the conclusions taken from them, and I certainly would not share the opposition's spin on them, are considered through the lens of these precedents and those quoted on Friday by the NDP House leader, I would submit there is no prima facie question of privilege to be found here.

[Questions on the Order Paper, February 4th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I ask that all questions be allowed to stand?

[Questions on the Order Paper, February 1st, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I ask that all questions be allowed to stand.

[Questions on the Order Paper, January 31st, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I ask that all questions be allowed to stand.

[Questions on the Order Paper, January 29th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I ask that all questions be allowed to stand.

[Questions on the Order Paper, January 28th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I ask that the remaining questions be allowed to stand.