Discussion · Government Orders
Gabriel Hardy Conservative
“The government leaked details of a new defence bill to reporters before sharing it with this House. Our rules say elected members must be the first to see new bills. The Prime Minister is hiding information from us, and that hurts our democracy.”
“Mr. Speaker, I would like to speak to the question of privilege raised earlier this week. Data and details from Bill C-40 were leaked. For those listening, what does that mean? Bill C-40 relates to national defence. To begin with, we should recognize that this is an important matter. However, journalists were granted privileged access to parts of this bill even before it was introduced here in the House, so before members of Parliament, who were elected by the public, had a chance to review it. Paragraph 3.14 of House of Commons Procedure and Practice states as follows: The premature disclosure of bills which have not yet been read in the House may be a breach of privilege. There is a well-established convention of parliamentary practice whereby members must be the first to be informed of the substance of legislative measures. It seems to me that it is essential to ensure that the members elected by Canadians are able to be the first to analyze the issues that are presented in the House, such as motions and bills, so we can be the eyes, ears and voices of our constituents and ensure that we can at least give them correct information. Our role is to analyze and share information with Canadians and represent them. The Prime Minister is showing signs of a trend. He seems to be on roll when it comes to his House of Commons attendance, to say the least. This week, he rose in the House to tell us that he is new here and not familiar with the rules. That is no excuse. Ignorance of the rules is no excuse for not following them. According to a long-standing code, members must be the first to know what goes on in the House of Commons because what we do here matters. Failure to follow these procedures undermines democracy. We live in a time where people are starting to have less and less confidence in our institutions and where there are more autocracies in the world than democracies. I think that we should at least be able to expect the Prime Minister and his team to show some respect for democracy. It is not right for the government to give inside information to certain journalists to shape public opinion and get a bit of head start so that the opposition does not have time do its work. We know that and it happened again recently. I will close with this. The Prime Minister walked away from the negotiations with the United States. We were never told why. We do not know what was left on the table and we parliamentarians have no say in the matter. The Prime Minister is building closer ties with the European Union and, at the end of last month, he went to Montreal to make an announcement about potential agreements with the EU. No one in the House knows what is going on. He said that his members are just there to vote and, unfortunately, he did not realize that he was being recorded at the time. The independent commissioners are beginning to sound the alarm and saying that he is becoming less and less transparent. I think that someone on the other side should remind him that this is not Canada Inc. and he is not the CEO of a company. He must show respect for democracy. That is supposed to happen in the House. I think we need to get back to the basics.”
Mr. Speaker, I would like to speak to the question of privilege raised earlier this week. Data and details from Bill C-40 were leaked. For those listening, what does that mean? Bill C-40 relates to national defence. To begin with, we should recognize that this is an important matter. However, journalists were granted privileged access to parts of this bill even before it was introduced here in the House, so before members of Parliament, who were elected by the public, had a chance to review it. Paragraph 3.14 of House of Commons Procedure and Practice states as follows: The premature disclosure of bills which have not yet been read in the House may be a breach of privilege. There is a well-established convention of parliamentary practice whereby members must be the first to be informed of the substance of legislative measures. It seems to me that it is essential to ensure that the members elected by Canadians are able to be the first to analyze the issues that are presented in the House, such as motions and bills, so we can be the eyes, ears and voices of our constituents and ensure that we can at least give them correct information. Our role is to analyze and share information with Canadians and represent them. The Prime Minister is showing signs of a trend. He seems to be on roll when it comes to his House of Commons attendance, to say the least. This week, he rose in the House to tell us that he is new here and not familiar with the rules. That is no excuse. Ignorance of the rules is no excuse for not following them. According to a long-standing code, members must be the first to know what goes on in the House of Commons because what we do here matters. Failure to follow these procedures undermines democracy. We live in a time where people are starting to have less and less confidence in our institutions and where there are more autocracies in the world than democracies. I think that we should at least be able to expect the Prime Minister and his team to show some respect for democracy. It is not right for the government to give inside information to certain journalists to shape public opinion and get a bit of head start so that the opposition does not have time do its work. We know that and it happened again recently. I will close with this. The Prime Minister walked away from the negotiations with the United States. We were never told why. We do not know what was left on the table and we parliamentarians have no say in the matter. The Prime Minister is building closer ties with the European Union and, at the end of last month, he went to Montreal to make an announcement about potential agreements with the EU. No one in the House knows what is going on. He said that his members are just there to vote and, unfortunately, he did not realize that he was being recorded at the time. The independent commissioners are beginning to sound the alarm and saying that he is becoming less and less transparent. I think that someone on the other side should remind him that this is not Canada Inc. and he is not the CEO of a company. He must show respect for democracy. That is supposed to happen in the House. I think we need to get back to the basics.