Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think it’s important to make clear — I mean, if you look at the context, the text, and the Hansard within the full context, the first paragraph, second paragraph and third paragraph — that I don’t believe I was imputing any motive. I certainly was not suggesting there was a ministerial sort of conspiracy. The fact that the Minister from Range Lake suggests that I was suggesting that is kind of off base.
I don’t feel I was suggesting that at all. I was talking about the motion. I talked about how I understood there were obviously going to be some people upset about this. Then I further went on to talk about how this is not necessarily a dead issue. We have an opportunity to work together as a group. For the Minister to suggest I was actually suggesting there might be some inappropriate activity going on, on behalf of Cabinet, is completely off base.
I mean, I’ll further state — I’ll make it deadly clear — I was never questioning the integrity of the Minister, certainly not questioning the credentials or the credibility of the Minister. I was talking about the fact that we were cutting $1.5 million, and it was certainly going to be affecting some people. I can clearly understand how unfortunate that is and how that’s going to adversely affect some people, specifically the Members.
I also never referred to them as Ministers. I referred to them as Members. My intent was not to impute motive in any way, shape or form.
I’m a little offended by Ms. Lee’s claim that I’m, in fact, imputing motive. I think that’s actually inappropriate.
I respect this House. I’ll treat this House with respect. I’ll treat all Members with respect. I think I’ve demonstrated I’m capable of that, and I think I’ve done that in the nine months I’ve been here, and I’ll continue to do that. I’m going to wait for the Speaker’s ruling on this. If the Speaker should rule me out of order, I’ll happily withdraw my comments and I’ll happily and sincerely apologize to the Member, but until that time I don’t believe in any way, shape or form that I was imputing motive. If I did, it was certainly not my intent.