Parliamentary Privilege / Rights of Members

Freedom from obstruction and interference: Member alleged to have misrepresented himself in an advertisement

March 27, 2014

Debates, pp. 3961–2

On March 24, 2014, Isabelle Morin (Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine) rose on a question of privilege. She alleged that, by placing an advertisement in a local newspaper inviting constituents from several ridings to meet with him to discuss local issues, Marc Garneau (Westmount—Ville-Marie) was trying to falsely present himself as their Member of Parliament, which had an impact on her ability to represent her constituents. Other Members made comments and the Speaker reserved his decision.^[1] On March 25, 2014, Mr. Garneau responded that he had clearly identified himself in the advertisement as the Member of Parliament for his riding and that, as a large number of his constituents live in the area where the local newspaper was distributed, his attempts to contact them were legitimate. Another Member also spoke to the matter.^[2]

Resolution

On March 27, 2014, the Speaker delivered his ruling. He stated that he found no indication that Mr. Garneau had misrepresented himself in the advertisement, distorted the truth in any way, or created any confusion in the minds of the constituents, nor that the Member raising the issue was impeded in the performance of her functions. Accordingly, he concluded that the matter did not constitute a prima facie question of privilege.

Decision of the Chair

The Speaker: I am now ready to rule on the question of privilege raised on March 24, 2014, by the hon. Member for Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine regarding recent advertisements issued by the hon. Member for Westmount—Ville-Marie.

I would like to thank the hon. Member for raising the question, as well as the hon. House Leader of the Official Opposition and the hon. Members for Beauséjour and for Westmount—Ville-Marie for their interventions on this matter.

On March 24, the hon. Member for Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine explained that, recently, advertisements were published in local newspapers by the hon. Member for Westmount—Ville-Marie inviting readers to meet with him at a public discussion of their concerns. She noted that the invitation covered not only his riding of Westmount—Ville-Marie but also her riding of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine and the riding of Montreal West. The Member went on to contend that this invitation was an implicit attempt by the Member for Westmount—Ville-Marie to present himself as the Member of Parliament for Notre-Dame-de-Grâce and Montreal West, and that the advertisement interfered with her work as the Member of Parliament in her riding. Furthermore, she argued that she viewed the advertisement as a means to target future voters, which breaches House rules prohibiting the use of House resources for election purposes.

In response, the Member for Westmount—Ville-Marie questioned the Member’s claim that he had misrepresented himself to others, noting that, in fact, the newspaper in question, the NDG Free Press, is distributed in both ridings and he had very clearly indicated in the advertisement which riding he represents. He also held [that since] their ridings are adjacent and therefore share common preoccupations, it was entirely acceptable to invite all citizens to discuss common priorities.

As all Members know, to declare a matter to be a prima facie case of privilege, it is essential to demonstrate precisely how a Member has been prevented from fulfilling his or her parliamentary duties.

O’Brien and Bosc states at page 109 that:

In order to find a prima facie breach of privilege, the Speaker must be satisfied that there is evidence to support the Member’s claim that he or she has been impeded in the performance of his or her parliamentary functions and that the matter is directly related to a proceeding in Parliament.

A Speaker Milliken ruling from 2004 has been touted as a relevant precedent in this case. On closer examination, however, Members will find that Speaker Milliken’s decision in that case hinged on an issue of false misrepresentation.

In this case, however, I have carefully reviewed the advertisement in question and I see that the advertisement makes perfectly clear that the invitation is being issued by the Member for Westmount—Ville-Marie. Indeed, the Member for Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine herself acknowledged that the Member for Westmount—Ville-Marie did not actually misrepresent himself as the Member for Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine.

She also stated that:

Working on community relations in one’s own riding and outside of it is certainly part of a political represent­ative’s job.

Members and indeed all Canadians will recognize the truth and significance of that statement, as did the Member for Westmount—Ville-Marie when he stated that:

...the interests of our constituents should be our common priority.

The Member for Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine will know that it is not at all unusual for Members not only to communicate with but also to visit the constituents of their colleagues. For example, just a few weeks ago, her colleague, the Member for Welland, happened to visit the town of Raymore in my own constituency of Regina—Qu’Appelle, where he participated in a town hall meeting with local citizens.

This speaks to Members’ attempts to work within, beyond, and across riding boundaries for the greater good.

It therefore does not seem reasonable to suggest that merely placing an advertisement inviting readers—some of whom happen to live in a different constituency—to meet a Member of Parliament is infringing the rules and somehow ought to constitute a matter of privilege.

The Chair could not find any evidence to suggest that any misrep­resentations were made, any truths distorted or any potential confusion created in the minds of voters and absent such evidence, I cannot conclude that the ability of the Member for Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine has somehow been infringed upon.

For these reasons, I cannot conclude that this matter constitutes a prima facie question of privilege.

I thank the House for its attention.