House of Commons.

AuthorBosc, Caroline
PositionLegislative Reports

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

The First Session of the Forty-First Parhament, which had resumed on January 30, 2012, adjourned for the summer on June 21, 2012. The House is scheduled to resume on September 17, 2012. The information below covers the period from January 30 to July 31, 2012.

Questions of privilege and points of order

During debate on Bill C-19 on February 7, Larry Miller made reference to Adolf Hitler. He later rose to apologize for this remark. In the subsequent days, several Members rose to question the legitimacy of the apology, including Irwin Cotler, who raised a point of order on the matter on February 9. In light of these objections, Mr. Miller rose once again to apologize. The Speaker maintained that, as the Member had apologized and withdrawn his remarks, it was the usual practice of the House to accept the word of the Member.

On February 16, the Speaker ruled on a question of privilege raised by Maria Mourani on February 8, after another Member, Sana Hassainia, had brought her infant son into the Chamber prior to the taking of a recorded division. In raising the matter, Mrs. Mourani expressed concern over the rules regarding Members bringing their infant children into the Chamber, stating that if they forbade the practice, that this would be an infringement of Members' privileges as they prevented them from carrying out their duties. She then requested that the Speaker clarify the rules. In his decision, the Speaker explained that he had asked Mrs. Hassainiato leave the Chamber as several Members had begun to take pictures of the infant, thus causing a disturbance in the House. He went on to state that the House had a long history of adapting its practices to accommodate Member, and that he intended to continue the practice of his predecessors who had turned a blind eye to the presence of infants in the Chamber when the proceedings were able to continue without disturbances. The Speaker concluded his remarks by stating that this was not a prima facie case of privilege and suggested that the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs examine the practices in this regard as part of its review of the Standing Orders.

On March 6, the Speaker ruled on a question of privilege raised by the Minister of Public Safety Vic Toews on February 27, concerning the cyber campaigns that followed his introduction of Bill C-30, Protecting Children from Internet Predators Act. Mr. Toews raised three issues, each of which he believed to be a contempt of the House. The first concerned the use of House resources for the so-called vikileaks30 account on Twitter, which Mr. Toews claimed had been used to attack him personally, thereby degrading his reputation and obstructing him from carrying out his duties as a Member of Parliament.

As Bob Rae had previously risen to apologize and inform the House that it was an employee of the Liberal Research Bureau who had been responsible for the site, the Speaker considered this aspect of the question closed. Second, Mr. Toews contended that an apparent campaign to inundate his office with calls, e-mails and faxes hindered him and his staff from serving his constituents, and prevented constituents with legitimate needs from contacting their Member of Parliament in a timely fashion. The Speaker ruled that he could not find that it was a primafacie case of privilege as Mr. Toews had not been impeded in his ability to perform his parliamentary duties. Finally, the Member had argued that the videos posted on YouTube by the so-called "Anonymous" on February 18, 22 and 25, were online attacks directed at him and his family that had crossed the line into threatening behaviour and constituted a deliberate attempt to intimidate him with respect to proceedings in Parliament.

The Speaker concluded that this constituted a prima facie question of privilege. Mr. Toews then moved that the matter be referred to the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs. A recorded division was requested on the motion, and the motion was agreed to unanimously later that day. The Committee held meetings on the question of privilege on...

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