Thank you. Oral questions.
Speaker's Ruling
At this time, the Chair would like to make a ruling. Before we proceed to item 7, written questions, I would like to provide to the House my ruling on the written question posed by the Member for Hay River yesterday regarding support programs for seniors. As Members will recall, I indicated that the preamble to written questions should be very brief and the question should not raise a debate. Our rules stipulate that written questions are to be used when a Member is seeking information which requires, and I quote from Rule 39(1): "a detailed or complex answer which would not reasonably be assumed to be within the present knowledge of the Minister", end of quote. After reviewing the unedited Hansard from yesterday, I wish to offer some comments and advice regarding written questions that I hope will assist all Members.
Written questions differ from oral questions in that they should be used to seek information that is complex or detailed in nature. A good example of this is the question posed by Mr. Rabesca yesterday when he asked a written question regarding cancer statistics. The information he sought was detailed and a reasonable assumption was that it was not information within the Minister's present knowledge, nor would it have been easily accessible.
In addition to clarifying the general nature of written questions, I would also like to comment on restrictions covering the form and content of written questions. Citation 428 in Beauchesne's Parliamentary Rules and Forms, 6th edition, lays out the list of prohibitions and includes matters such as and I quote: "a question must not contain an expression or of opinion, nor be a speech however short, nor be of unreasonable length nor to be framed so as to suggest its own answer". I find that the Member for Hay River's written question yesterday approaches the terms of these and other restrictions. However, I will allow her question to stand but I offer you these comments with the hope that all Members will in the future pay closer attention to the form and content of written questions. As your speaker I want to provide wide latitude to Members in asking your question and seeking information from the government. However, I will also enforce the rules. Written questions, Mr. Krutko.