Thank you. We have Mr. Krutko and Mr. Erasmus. Mr. Minister. Thank you. Mr. Arlooktoo, to the point of order.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Not to limit the debate, but a lot of the questions that are being asked in the last several hours have been answered time and time again. I would raise a point of order according to rule 781 regarding the committee of the whole. The rules and procedures of the Legislative Assembly shall be observed in the committee of the whole, as far as they are applicable. Two, speeches in the committee of the whole must be strictly relevant to the item and clause under consideration. The other part of my point of order, Mr. Chairman, is in the rules of debate 23(c) that in a debate a Member shall be called to order by the Speaker, or in this case the Chair, if the Member persists in needless repetition or raises matters which have been decided during the current session. Thank you. That is my point of order.

Thank you. I do not have to repeat it as it will be in the unedited Hansard tomorrow. I have mine twice and I appreciate the Member for raising the point of order. What is the wish of the committee? Do you want to debate this point of order, Mr. Krutko?

Excuse me. Mr. Arlooktoo, to the point or order.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Member, in his previous statement imputes false or hidden motives about another Member by suggesting that somebody from this side has something to hide and that we wish other Members to stop asking questions. It is clearly a breach of privilege. That is my point of order. Thank you.

Thank you. I am advised when a Member is speaking generally, he is not imputing on any other Members within the forum. No point of order. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you. At the same time, when a Member is speaking generally, I indicated they are not imputing on any other Member to have hidden motives, but, as Mr. Arlooktoo outlined, it is coming pretty close to Rule 23(1). To the point of order, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you. I am advised that the chair has discretion of how many times a Member, any Member, can speak to a specific issue. I will refer to the time limit on speaking in the marginal quote, of the Rules of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories.

79(1)No Member shall speak for more than 10 minutes at any one time in committee of the whole.

Speaking more than once, marginal note:

79(2) Subject to the discretion of the chair, a Member may speak more than once to a matter under discussion but not until every Member wishing to speak has spoken.

I am advised that it is up to the chair how many times a Member should speak. I am advised that Mr. Arlooktoo has no point of order, although he made a good point. Mr. Miltenberger, you made a good point and we will try to, without taking the Member's opportunity to speak, will try and ensure this committee follows the rules. However, there is no rule limiting any Member to how many times they can speak. I will take my direction from the House. It is 6:00 p.m. I will rise and report progress. I thank the witnesses for appearing before the committee. Thank you, Mr. Minister.

The House will come back to order. Item 20, report of committee of the whole. Mr. Ningark.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, your committee has been considering Bill 8, Appropriation Act 1998-99 and would like to report progress. Mr. Speaker, I move that the report of the committee of the whole be concurred with. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ningark. Seconded by Mr. Steen. The motion is in order. To the motion. Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried. The Member for Baffin South has a point of privilege. Mr. Arlooktoo.

Point of Privilege

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise on a point of privilege. This is a sad day, Mr. Speaker, but the Member for Hay River has left me no choice by tabling a document today. My point of privilege, Mr. Speaker, is that Tabled Document 49-13(5) constitutes an implicit allegation that I wrote an unsigned note that the Member for Hay River attempted to table two weeks ago.

Mr. Speaker, in my tenure as a Minister, there have been occasions where it appeared that a political leader or another Member had concerns or comments about me. As a Member of this House and as a leader, I have handled these situations in an open and up front manner, approaching the individuals to ensure I have all the facts before acting and to possibly remedy the situation. In all cases, Mr. Speaker, this approach has cleared the air. I have never been approached by the Member for Hay River to ask if I wrote the note.

Mr. Speaker, I said in the House today that I did not write, and I repeat, I did not write this note. Premier Morin also made it clear to this House that no Cabinet Member wrote the note either. I was elected to this government based on my honesty and integrity. Given the manner in which I have conducted myself in this House, I cannot believe that my word would not be taken, or worse still, not even sought before tabling such a document in the House.

Mr. Speaker, there is a long standing convention that reflections on Members and the House may constitute a breach of privilege. I am speechless as to why the Member for Hay River would go outside the walls of the Legislative Assembly to obtain the services of a documents examiner, to offer conclusions based on two brief sentences, without confronting me first.

Mr. Speaker, it has been ruled that simple justice requires that no honourable Member should have to submit to an investigation of his conduct by the House or a committee until he has been charged with an offense. In this case, Mr. Speaker, I believe that this breach could be interpreted to extend to individual Members' investigations. All investigations of events that occur within the House should be a matter for the House or a committee. As a Member of this House, I am always mindful of the fact that what I say and do has wide implications for the people I serve and for my colleagues in the House. Mr. Speaker, I cannot help but be personally offended by the actions of the Member for Hay River in tabling this document.

Therefore, Mr. Speaker, the basis of my point of privilege rests in the following definition, and I quote, "to constitute a breach of privilege a statement reflecting on the conduct of a Member in his capacity as a Member need not be untrue, but it must tend to lower the House in the eyes of the public." That is to say, Mr. Speaker, the actions of the honourable Member for Hay River has hurt all Members of this House today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Arlooktoo. I would like to indicate the procedures that it is my duty to follow when a point of privilege is raised. It is the duty of the Speaker to decide if a prima facie case can be established. I am required to be satisfied, both that privilege appears to be sufficiently involved to justify giving such precedent and that the matter is being raised at the earliest opportunity. Therefore, in accordance with the rules, I will allow for debate to assist me in making my determination. To the point of privilege. Mr. Arlooktoo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just on the first point that you require that this is the first opportunity to raise the point of privilege. The Member for Hay River tabled the document, several hours ago. It took some time to obtain the document and to review it. Therefore, I submit that this is my first and earliest opportunity to raise it. Thank you.

Thank you. Do we have any other debate on this? I can only make the ruling based on what the parliamentary procedures are. I will quote from Citation 64 of Beauchesne's Parliamentary Rules and Forms, 6th edition, in which it says that the House has occasionally taken notice of attacks on individual Members. Also in Erskine May Parliamentary Practice, 21st edition, on page 127, it says that written imputations, as affecting a Member of Parliament, may amount to breach of privilege, without perhaps, being libels at common law, but to constitute a breach of privilege a libel upon a Member must concern the character or conduct of the Member in that capacity.

Based on those two references, I would have to say that the Member for Baffin South does have a prima facie point of privilege and our rules are clear on the actions available to Members. If the Members wish to go to your rules, it is on page 8 on how to deal with the matter. Item 21, third reading of bills. Item 22, orders of the day. Mr. Clerk.

Mr. Speaker, there are meetings for tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. of the full Caucus and at 11:00 a.m. of the Ordinary Members Caucus, and at 11:45 a.m. a lunch briefing with the directors of the NWT Friendship Centre.

Orders of the day for Tuesday, February 17, 1998:

1. Prayer

2. Ministers' Statements

3. Members' Statements

4. Returns to Oral Questions

5. Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

6. Oral Questions

7. Written Questions

8. Returns to Written Questions

9. Replies to Opening Address

10. Petitions

11. Reports of Standing and Special Committees

12. Reports of Committees on the Review of Bills

13. Tabling of Documents

14. Notices of Motion

15. Notices of Motions for First Reading of Bills

16. Motions

17. First Reading of Bills

- Bill 5, An Act to Amend the Financial Administration Act, No. 2

- Bill 7, An Act to Amend the Territorial Court Act

- Bill 9, Loan Authorization Act, 1998-99

18. Second Reading of Bills

19. Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

- Bill 6, An Act to Amend the Income Tax Act

- Bill 8, Appropriation Act, 1998-99

- Committee Report 02-13(5), Standing Committee on Government Operations, Report on the 1998-99 Main Estimates

- Committee Report 03-13(5), Standing Committee on Infrastructure, Report on the 1998-99 Main Estimates

- Committee Report 04-13(5), Standing Committee on Resource Management and Development, Report on the 1998-99 Main Estimates

- Committee Report 05-13(5), Standing Committee on Social Programs, Report on the 1998-99 Estimates

- Tabled Document 15-13(5), 1998-99 Budget Address

- Tabled Document 19-13(5), Guidelines for Implementing Public/Private Partnerships

20. Report of Committee of the Whole

21. Third Reading of Bills

22. Orders of the Day

Thank you. This House stands adjourned to Tuesday, February 17th at 1:30 p.m.

--ADJOURNMENT