Routine Proceedings / Tabling of Documents

February 2, 1984

Debates pp. 1013-5

On January 24, 1984, in response to a question by Mr. Mulroney (Leader of the Opposition) during Oral Question Period, Mr. Lalonde (Minister of Finance) made reference to correspondence Mr. Mulroney had sent to Finance Department officials in his former capacity as President of the Iron Ore Company of Canada, prior to his election as a Member of Parliament. During the exchange that followed, Mr. Lalonde requested Mr. Mulroney's permission to release the letter referred to and Mr. Mulroney agreed. Accordingly, the correspondence was tabled on January 27, 1984.

On January 30, 1984, Mr. Epp (Provencher) raised a point of order relating to the procedure of tabling these documents. Mr. Epp made several arguments in support of his view that such correspondence ought not to have been tabled. He suggested that unanimous consent would be required in order to permit a Minister to table such a document. Mr. Epp cited remarks made by Speaker Jerome on June 1, 1978, regarding the necessity for the unanimous consent of the House for the tabling of correspondence. Mr. Epp also argued that previous rulings, particularly one made by Speaker Lamoureux on January 8, 1974, had deemed the tabling of correspondence between a Member and a Minister to be out of order. Mr. Epp then drew the Speaker's attention to several citations in the Fifth edition of Beauchesne, dealing with restrictions on the nature of the information which can be requested in an oral or written question, or in a motion for the production of papers. He emphasized those provisions which preclude information of a private nature and information which is not officially connected with Government or Parliament.

Several Members spoke on Mr. Epp's point of order. Mr. Lalonde reminded the Speaker that he had sought, received and confirmed Mr. Mulroney's permission to table the correspondence.

After hearing argument, the Speaker reserved his decision until February 2, 1984.

Issue

Under the provisions of Standing Order 46, can a Minister table correspondence which was received from a Member of Parliament prior to the election of that Member to the House?

Decision

Yes. A Minister is permitted to table such documents.

Reasons given by the Speaker

A letter, even though written as a private letter, becomes a public document when it becomes part of a record of a department, and therefore must be tabled on request if a Minister has quoted from it. Unanimous consent is not required pursuant to Standing Order 46(2). Speaker Jerome's ruling regarding a requirement for unanimous consent related to a request to print a document as an Appendix to Hansard and therefore does not apply in this case. The rule which does not allow correspondence between a Minister and a Member to be tabled does not apply to correspondence that predates the election of a Member to the House of Commons. Ministers may table documents voluntarily and not only when, having quoted from a document, they are request ed to do so. As regards the ethics of a Minister's actions in releasing private correspondence, the Speaker's responsibility does not include ruling on questions of propriety.