44th Parl. 1st Sess.
October 16, 2023 11:00AM
- Oct/16/23 4:50:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise to respond to the question of privilege raised by the member for Calgary Nose Hill on Thursday, October 5, with a further intervention on Friday, October 6, respecting the government's response to Order Paper Question No. 1417 and Question No. 1582.
The member alleges that the government's response to these questions represents a willful misrepresentation of the facts, based on a CBC story reported on October 5 that produced a different amount for the trip that was the subject of the two Order Paper questions.
I submit that there was no intention to mislead the House or its members in the government's response to these questions. In fact, it is the government's view that the responses addressed the questions that were asked. This matter amounts to a debate as to the facts and does not, in any way, represent a wilful misrepresentation of the facts to the House.
The crux of the questions posed is based on the notion of “total costs incurred by the government”. The government takes the view that “the government” includes all core departments of the public service and not independent arm's-length agencies, such as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
The fact is that neither of these questions specifically asked for that information. It is not for the government to make assumptions about what the member means to ask when submitting an Order Paper question. The government simply responds to the precise question that was asked.
The questions did not specifically ask for the costs incurred by the RCMP for the trip in question, and the government responded to the question that was actually asked. In no way can this constitute a willful intent to mislead the House.
Precedence has clearly established that the Speaker's role is not to judge the quality of the answers given to the questions posed, whether during Oral Questions, during question and comment period sessions in debate or through the process for responding to Order Paper questions. A long-standing adjacent principle that has been upheld by all speakers is the practice that members are taken at their word. The question of privilege being responded to seeks to contradict these two important practices of this House. I therefore submit that this matter amounts to debate as to the facts and does not represent a valid prima facie determination of a question of privilege.
The government takes seriously its responsibility to respond accurately to questions asked through the Order Paper process, but it can never put itself in a position to assume what the member meant to ask. That is the responsibility of the member when asking a question for which they desire a very specific response.
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- Oct/16/23 5:10:05 p.m.
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We have to resume debate.
The hon. member for Calgary Skyview.
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- Oct/16/23 5:11:07 p.m.
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I have to interrupt the hon. member.
When we had speeches from the opposition side, the House was quiet and people listened, so I would like the same courtesy to be accorded now to the current member.
The hon. member for Calgary Skyview.
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- Oct/16/23 10:42:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise as a voice for the great people of Calgary and for our vibrant Jewish communities. In the solemn silence of the Sabbath, violence and terror ensued last Saturday. The chosen friends whom I have had and the chosen family I get to make, as for so many people from across Israel, began to text as they learned and watched the documented evidence of atrocities. They watched babies being thrown into cages and seniors being dragged across the street. They heard news of young people revelling in joy, song and love being slaughtered. They watched wanton destruction by terrorists roaming the streets of the country I have come to love in the many times I have had the honour to visit. Now, seven Canadians lie dead.
I am here just to say a few things. The first is that Israel has the right to exist. The Jewish people, as indigenous to the land, through the modern state of Israel, tell the story of the most remarkable indigenous revival on Planet Earth. The world's recognition of this Israeli legitimacy, this Zionism, is long overdue. Terror runs across the streets of that great country, that amazing, remarkable democracy.
Its legitimacy is being challenged once again, which brings me to my second point: Israel has the right, and indeed the obligation, to defend itself by itself. In 1948, the world's establishment argued against its existence, saying that it was less permanent than other nations are. This is logic that strays dangerously close to anti-Zionism and, through it, to actual anti-Semitism. Time and time again, Israel has proven them wrong, against great odds, fighting to preserve its state and proving beyond any doubt its ability to defend itself and its capital.
In most instances, such strength would be taken as an example of Israel's permanence, yet each time, the Jewish state is forced to sue for peace and grant concessions to its enemies. These enemies have only one goal: to destroy the state and eradicate the people. We stand with the reservists and security services that bring order to Israel by weeding out hundreds of Hamas terrorists, by rescuing hundreds of innocent hostages and by ensuring Hamas is dismantled and never capable of doing this again.
Third, anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism. At rallies sprouting up across our land, extremists celebrate rape, murder and kidnapping by Hamas, calling for actual incitement of violence against our treasured Jewish communities. Extremists' celebration of actual hate crimes and war crimes constitutes an affront to the peace and freedom of all Canadians, especially our Jewish communities.
Hamas is responsible for all the misery, murder and chaos across Israel and Gaza. There is no equivalence. Hamas is responsible for the deaths we see on the streets of Israel and for the loss of every innocent life to come. Gaza has not been occupied for more than 18 years. For 18 years, it has been part of a Hamas terror factory backed by a clerical military dictatorship in Iran. It is time to dismantle all of it now.
In this terrible test, when the calls for appeasement and restraint come, when it is hard to stand with Israel, I will pay attention to those who actually do. Under attack by land, by sea, by air and by a firestorm of rockets, and with infiltrators kidnapping and killing innocent civilians, there is no equivalence to be made. Hamas is responsible.
This is hard for me, because I spent a few years living in the desert under bombardment from Iranian rockets, and I know what it is like. In the hours and weeks, in the dark months ahead and in the trying times of our defining age, may the blessings of the memories of those who have been murdered over this last week, of those who have been sent to gas chambers and of those who have survived through the millennia fortify us to get this job done, because Am Yisrael Chai.
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- Oct/16/23 10:49:52 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate the member for Calgary Heritage on his excellent speech. Like many Jewish Canadians, I have taken great comfort from the debate tonight and general unanimity in the House that Israel has the right to defend itself within international law because it was attacked by a terrorist entity and we are all better off if that terrorist entity is destroyed.
There tend to be places where Israel is treated differently from every other country in the world, by some people. I wonder if the member might extrapolate a bit about how this is taking place in this context.
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