Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The constituent who approached me heel a serious problem with his housing unit and had waited months for an answer to queries placed with the Housing Corporation. He found corporation personnel unresponsive and negative in their dealings with him. These are the sort of concerns that I believe the Minister should know about. I believe that he would take a professional approach and attempt to resolve the problem. However, he did not.
Mr. Speaker, what did he do? it seems that he delegated and then he forgot about it because I did not hear from him again until just the day before session started. He delegated the matter to one of his senior officials in the Housing Corporation. That person delegated it to the district manager. The district manager delegated it to the staff person who had caused the problem in the first place. This person took the matter to his lawyer. Instead of getting help from the Minister, which Members expect, we did not, in resolving a particular attitude problem within the corporation. What I did get though, was a cease and desist letter from an employee's lawyer. Who knows what they might have in store for the constituent who brought the original concern to me in the first place. What was the Minister thinking about when he responded in this way? I wondered where his management skills were. Where was his commitment to working together and his concern for constituents that he told us about on November 13? Perhaps, Mr. Speaker, as I said on Friday, his teflon is rubbing off.
I recognize the Minister wrote and apologized, Mr. Speaker, the day before the session. However, Mr. Speaker, I want the Minister and the people who he is allowing to do his job for him to know that I will not cease and desist from continuing to express my concerns on behalf of my constituents. The fact that one of his employees tried to hire a local lawyer to intimidate me makes no difference. Should other constituents come and raise their concerns with respect to the behaviour of a civil servant, I will not hesitate to communicate those concerns to the appropriate people. My privilege to do so, as a Member of this House, is clearly defined and has been protected by court decisions in countries served by parliaments all over the world.
To confirm what type of privilege I have, through legal counsel, I was advised it was called "qualified privilege," when it is outside of the House. However, in researching cases in 1972, judgement of a case in England, the court found, and I quote, "It will be a sad day when a Member of Parliament has to look over his shoulder before ventilating to the proper authorities criticism about the work of a public servant, which he honestly believes to merit investigation." I strongly believe that all Members of this House would do no less in bringing the concerns of their constituents to the appropriate Minister. I trust that their issues will receive a more conscientious treatment than what was displayed towards me by the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation.
I also bud when we bring forth our concerns in this manner, that Ministers will not get so defensive to the point where they are calling Members on this side of the House "irresponsible." I find that type of conduct ignorant, at the very least. of a Minister. Thank you.