Speaker rules no breach of privacy
OTTAWA — House of Commons Speaker Geoff Regan ruled Tuesday there was no formal breach of privilege when Liberal ministers said they had not rented limos while on official duties — despite media reports later revealing they had.
However, Regan warned of a “possible erosion of questions on the order paper as a tool to hold the government to account.”
The ruling came in response to a point of privilege raised by Conservative MP Dan Albas as Parliament returned from the summer break last week.
Albas tabled a written question asking whether any ministers had used limousines. Health Minister Jane Philpott and Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr both approved responses indicating they had not done so.
But media reports during the summer revealed both had spent public money on limousine services — though the definition of what constitutes a limousine was debated. Philpott ultimately repaid most of the money.
Regan noted typically the speaker does not have the jurisdiction to make rulings on the content of government questions, or the validity of government information, unless matters come before him in debates in the House of Commons or through committee reports.
Finding a breach of privilege requires that an MP has been impeded in some way from carrying out his or her parliamentary duties.
“In this particular instance, based upon the evidence before me, I cannot conclude that the member has been impeded in the performance of his parliamentary duties,” Regan said.
But he cited concerns “troubling to the chair.”
“Access to information — accurate information — is one of the cornerstones of our parliamentary system. Members must be able to rely upon it at all times,” he said.
The onus is on ministers and their public servants to provide “simply technically accurate, but also complete and transparent answers.”
Regan added that citizens place trust in their elected representatives, a trust that “needs to be respected and upheld.”
“After all, it must be remembered that citizens are the ultimate arbiters of the public debate generated, from time to time, by answers to written questions,” he said.
He added it’s incumbent upon those who respond to questions to rise to standards expected of them, echoing the accusation Albas threw at Philpott and Carr last week.
“These ministers have missed the mark and have come in well below the expected standard,” Albas said.
“It sounds like a very fair ruling,” Philpott said Tuesday.
“We are certainly going to continue to make sure that we provide the right information, and I look forward to working with my colleagues to do that.”