Privilege / Reflections upon a Member

Reflections upon a Member

Journals pp. 1207-9

Debates pp. 12667-9

Background

On March 31, Mr. Yewchuk (Athabasca) raised a question of privilege because of certain remarks made by Mrs. Holt (Vancouver—Kingsway) during the course of a meeting of the Standing Committee on Health, Welfare and Social Affairs some days earlier. Mr. Yewchuk charged that Mrs. Holt had imputed motives to him by suggesting a conflict of interest in his questioning of Canadian Medical Association representatives about Bill C-68 because of his professional status as a doctor. Further, Mr. Yewchuk accused a CTV network journalist, Eric Malling, of a similar breach of privilege for the comments he made on the program Canada AM.

Issue

Do the remarks made by one Member about another constitute a question of privilege?

Can a reporter's comments on the performance of any Member of the House constitute a question of privilege?

Ought the Chair to sit in appeal on judgments of procedure made in standing committee?

Decision

There is no question of privilege.

Reasons given by the Speaker

It must be understood that questions of privilege are not confined to incidents which take place in the House; they can arise from elsewhere as well, including committees. This specific case, however, involves a disagreement about the interpretation of events which took place in a standing committee and is not, in consequence, a question of privilege, but a point of order which should not be reviewed by the Chair.

However insulting the language of a reporter may be, it cannot be found to warrant the invocation of privilege procedures by the House in order to censure him. The right to criticize should be resolved in favour of the public, and the legal protection afforded every citizen should be sufficient for Members.

Authority cited

United Kingdom, Parliament, House of Commons, Report from the Select Committee on Parliamentary Privilege (London, 1967) p. xvi, c. 46.

References

Debates, March 31, 1976, p. 12322; April 1, 1976, pp. 12358-63; April 7, 1976, pp. 12583-5.