I would like to call the committee to order. If Members recall, we were dealing with the matter Ministers' Statement 10-12(2), Education Dispute. There was a point of order raised by Mr. Allooloo. I would like to proceed with a ruling on that particular point of order before we commence the business of the committee.
Chairman's Ruling
Prior to proceeding with committee of the whole, I would like to provide my ruling on the point of order raised by Mr. Allooloo yesterday during the discussion on Ministers' Statement 10-12(2). The point of order was raised by Mr. Allooloo after a statement was made by Mr. Koe during his remarks on the Minister's statement where he indicated that the Minister of Education, Mr. Allooloo, was receiving bad advice from his advisors. Mr. Koe alleged that the Minister was told by his advisors not to meet with the president of the Northwest Territories Teachers' Association. Mr. Allooloo's point of order was that the Member for Inuvik was making some allegations that were not true concerning that statement.
I have reviewed the unedited Hansard on this matter and find myself in a difficult position, as the chairman cannot be expected to know whether a Member or Minister is providing information that is correct. I would assume that no Member would provide information to the House that was not factual, as it would be a point of order if a Member did make an unsubstantiated allegation against another Member, an official or a witness, or impute false unavowed motives to another Member. I would hope that this is not the case in this matter.
To put the matter to rest, I quote citation 494 of Beauchesne's sixth edition:
"It has been formally ruled by Speakers that statements by Members respecting themselves and particularly within their own knowledge must be accepted. It is not unparliamentary temperately to criticize statements made by Members as being contrary to the facts, but no imputation of intentional falsehood is permissible. On rare occasions this may result in the House having to accept two contradictory accounts of the same incident."
The Chair feels that this is the case in this matter and trusts Members will be guided to ensure that any statements made are factually correct and do not offend the rules of debate in this House. If any statements made yesterday by either Mr. Koe or Mr. Allooloo were not correct, I would expect that the Member concerned would correct the facts and appropriately apologize to the House. Thank you.
If I might call the committee back to order, we were dealing with the matter of Ministers' Statement 10-12(2). What is the wish of the committee? Mrs. Marie-Jewell.