The Daily Program / Routine Proceedings

Questions on the Order Paper: inaccurate information in a government response to a written question

June 7, 2017

Debates, pp. 12204–5

On May 19, 2017, Pierre Poilievre (Carleton) rose on a point of order regarding the government response to written question Q-954, tabled in the House on May 18, 2017. He stated that the response accused John Baird of having taken a sponsored trip while he was the minister of foreign affairs, even though he had resigned from cabinet in advance of the alleged trip. He contended that, by deliberately inserting false information, the government had disparaged Mr. Baird’s reputation. The Speaker took the matter under advisement.^[1] On May 29, 2017, Kevin Lamoureux (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons) tabled a revised response to the question and stated that the original response contained inaccurate information due to an administrative error.^[2]

Resolution

On June 7, 2017, the Speaker delivered his ruling. He reiterated not only the importance of members’ having access to accurate, complete and transparent information, but also that it is not the role of the Chair to judge the quality of responses to written questions. The Speaker added that, as the government had tabled a revised response to address Mr. Poilievre’s point of order, he considered the matter closed.

Decision of the Chair

The Speaker: I am now prepared to rule on the point of order raised on May 19, 2017, by the hon. member for Carleton, related to the government response to written question No. 954, originally tabled in the House on May 18, 2017, and for which a revised response was tabled on May 29, 2017.

I would like to thank the hon. member for Carleton for having raised this matter as well as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Government House Leader for his comments.

When raising this point of order, the hon. member for Carleton indicated that the response provided to written Question No. 954 contained inaccurate information falsely suggesting that the Hon. John Baird made a sponsored trip while he was minister of foreign affairs.

On May 29, 2017, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons tabled a revised answer to question No. 954 and explained that the original response contained inaccurate information due to an administrative error in producing the response.

On September 27, 2016, I told members of the House, at page 5176 of Debates:

Access to information, accurate information, is one of the cornerstones of our parliamentary system. Members must be able to rely on it at all times. The integrity of many of our procedures, especially those relating to written questions, rests on the rightful expectation that ministers, and the public servants who support them understand the value and utility of providing, not simply technically accurate but also complete and transparent, answers in the written responses that they provide to members of the House.

Furthermore, I want also to reiterate, as successive Speakers have before me, that the Standing Orders do not empower the Speaker to rule on the quality of responses to written questions.

Given that the Parliamentary Secretary to the Government House Leader has tabled a revised answer to Question No. 954, which addresses the error as raised by the member for Carleton, I am satisfied that the current case reaffirms that all members clearly understand the importance of an accurate exchange of information meant to enable members to properly fulfill their responsibilities as legislators and representatives.

I thank hon. members for their attention, and I consider this matter closed.