Thank you. I would like to take this opportunity to read out the chair's ruling on Committee of the Whole last week. At this time, I would like to provide my ruling on the point of order that was raised in Committee of the Whole on Friday, May 24, 1996, by the Honourable Don Morin.
Members will recall that the committee was debating the estimates for the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs and Mr. Morin raised a point of order to indicate that, in his opinion, the Member for Amittuq, Mr. Evaloarjuk, was making allegations against Cabinet Members by saying that their constituencies were receiving, and I quote, "More capital than ordinary Members' ridings. That isn't true. Capital is given out by this government on need and need only. If the Member is saying that the Ministers of this government are pork-barrelling into their riding or padding their riding, that isn't a true statement. I would like that statement taken back."
I have reviewed the unedited transcript for Friday, and would like to offer you the following comments. The rules of this House and the precedence of parliamentary procedure are clear in this regard. Beauchesne's citation 41 states that Members must not impute bad motives or motives different from those acknowledged by a Member. As well, Members must not make a personal charge against another Member.
After reviewing the unedited transcript, I find that Mr. Evaloarjuk was close to contravening our rules of order and, in fact, would likely have been called to order if the Premier had not raised his point of order as quickly as he did.
To be fair to both Mr. Evaloarjuk and the Premier, I should clearly note for the record that Mr. Evaloarjuk was speaking in Inuktitut. As the Premier pointed out, there is some question whether the translation was entirely accurate and true to Mr. Evaloarjuk's intentions. As the committee chairperson, Mrs. Groenewegen, stated at the time, it wasn't clear if Mr. Evaloarjuk was referring to speculation on capital allocations or stating this allegation as a matter of fact. Upon my review of the transcript, I must say that this point is somewhat moot.
The precedents are clear, Members must not make allegations or impute false motives against another Member. As the chairperson, Mrs. Groenewegen, said, "Members should be cautioned not to imply motives or attribute actions to Ministers which could be speculative and negative.' I could not agree more. I should also note, for the record, that Mr. Evaloarjuk did apologize for his comment.
All Members are asked to keep these rules in mind when commenting on the motives or actions of their colleagues; Ministers and ordinary Members alike. Without this mutual respect and trust, the important matters of this House cannot be dealt with in a productive manner. I trust you will agree. As Mr. Evaloarjuk has apologized for his comments, I rule that no further actions are required. Thank you.
To get back to the order on the table, we were on page 10-37, contributions, total department, $56,507. Agreed?