Good afternoon, Members. Welcome back to the House. Before we begin, I will now provide my ruling on the point of order raised by the Member for Range Lake, Ms. Lee, yesterday during oral question period.
Ms. Lee rose alleging that earlier, during oral questions, the Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen, contravened Rule 23(c), (h), (i), (j), (k) and (m).
Firstly, Ms. Lee alleged that in referencing a previous decision to close the Dene K'onia facility, Mrs. Groenewegen contravened Rule 23(c) in rising on a matter that had been decided by the House during the current session. On this point, I find that there is no point of order since the matter had been considered and decided during the budget debate of the Third Session and we are now in the Fourth Session.
With respect to the matter of 23(h), alleging against a Member; 23(i), imputes false or hidden motives; 23(j), uttering deliberate falsehood; 23(k), using abusive or insulting language; and 23(m), offending the practices and precedent of the Assembly, your Chair will deal with these together.
To establish the context of Ms. Lee's point of order, I will quote Mrs. Groenewegen's comments from page 875 of unedited Hansard in her question to the Honourable Brendan Bell, Minister of Justice, "Would the Minister of Justice consider reopening the Dene K'onia Young Offenders' Facility? I maintain to you today that if we had an ounce of support from the Yellowknife MLAs to keep the Dene K'onia operating for all these same reasons, we wouldn't be having this discussion today." Before we go any further, I will rule no, that the Member for Range Lake does not have a point of order under rules 23(h), 23(j), 23(k) or 23(m). I find no explicit allegation, charge of uttering a falsehood, abusive language, or an offence against the practices and traditions of the House in these statements. The question remains, however, whether Mrs. Groenewegen's comments constituted an imputation of motive on the part of the Yellowknife MLAs.
First, your Chair is not interested in whether there was support or not from Members of any previous question before the House or any Member's perception of support or non-support. The question before the Chair is whether Mrs. Groenewegen's comments bring in the motives of other Members.
In allowing debate to the point of order, Mrs. Groenewegen attempted to clarify her comments. I refer
to page 911 of unedited Hansard, where Mrs. Groenewegen explains, "I am saying if we had, and if that had affected the decision, I am saying we would not be having this discussion today, because we wouldn't have an empty building to be moving TTC into." Your Chair finds these remarks helpful in determining that the honourable Member for Hay River South did not intend to impute motives in this matter and, therefore, on the final matter of Rule 23(i), I find the Member for Range Lake does not have a point of order.
I would like to thank those Members who shared their thoughts during the debate on the point of order. It serves to illustrate that during the often highly charged proceedings of this House, there are often conflicting opinions, points of view and interpretation of what is said and done. Your Chair recognizes this fact of parliamentary life, and I encourage all Members to recognize it, as well.
Colleagues, with your indulgence, I would also like to take this opportunity to make a comment on the use of question period generally. Given what I have observed over the past few days, question period, Members, is not an opportunity for debate. It is a forum for seeking information from the government. It disturbs me that, increasingly, Members are using preambles to questions to make statements, argue points of view, comment on other Members' references, and generally debate the merits of one position or another.
While your Chair has been lenient and permitted a great deal of latitude in allowing meaningful public debate, the result, as illustrated by Ms. Lee's feeling on a need to rise on a point of order, is not in the best interest of the House or the people that we serve. I don't have to remind Members that the public does pay attention to the debates in this House. Our rules are in place to ensure the dignity and the importance of the work done here. Therefore, I will ask all Members to use question period in the manner intended, and to review the rules and guidelines we have in place and conduct yourselves accordingly. Thank you, Members, for your attention.
Orders of the day. Item 2, Ministers' statements. The honourable Premier, Mr. Handley.