Thank you, Mr. Antoine. Good morning.
Speaker's Ruling
Before we proceed with the orders of the day, I wish to provide my ruling on point of order raised yesterday by Mr. Morin regarding comments made by Mr. Kakfwi in which Mr. Kakfwi made reference to the names of private citizens as well as some current public servants.
I have reviewed the unedited Hansard from yesterday. As well, I have reviewed previous Speakers' Rulings in this area and I would like to quote from a ruling I made on February 26, 1998. I would like to quote the key portion of that ruling without repeating it in its entirety, and I quote:
I will not permit comments, whether written or spoken in this Legislature, that have the tendency to question the personal integrity of others outside the House or impute motives to those unable to respond or which have the impact of adversely reflecting on the character of those persons outside of this Legislature.
As I have stated, I have reviewed the unedited transcripts from yesterday and I cannot find any instances where Mr. Kakfwi made comments which may have questioned anyone's integrity, imputed motives or adversely reflected on the character of any person outside of this Legislature.
Therefore, I rule that Mr. Morin does not have a point of order. However, it is always important that Members uphold the spirit and intent of past rulings in that regard and once again I would caution all Members to consider comments they make with this advice in mind. Thank you.
--Applause
Item 2, Ministers' statements. Mr. Antoine.