Rules of Debate / Order and Decorum
Unparliamentary language: general accusations
Debates, p. 6373
Context
On May 31, 2005, as the House was debating an opposition motion calling upon the Government to change the terms of reference of the Gomery Commission, Paul Szabo (Mississauga South) rose on a point of order. He argued that statements asserting wrongdoing by the Government were improper as they had not been proven in court. The Deputy Speaker (Chuck Strahl) replied that he had not heard any accusations against individual Members, which would be unacceptable, but only against political parties. Mr. Szabo rose again to argue that, since all Liberal Party Members had been accused of illegal acts, the Chair should be concerned with this matter.
Resolution
The Deputy Speaker ruled immediately to the effect that because the accusations had been levelled against a political party and not against individual Members, the remarks were acceptable. (Editor’s Note: The exchange is reproduced in extenso.)
Decision of the Chair
The Deputy Speaker: I thank the hon. Member for Mississauga South. In the debate Members will have to be careful of course not to ascribe motives or actions to Members of Parliament that are improper or illegal. However in a debate like this we will probably get into discussions about political parties and their involvement or lack thereof and the innocence and guilt on both sides. In that case we are going to hear it.
However we will not accept accusations against individual Members of Parliament, nor should we. I have not heard anything like that. I have heard talk about parties and so on and that is something different than Members of Parliament. I think we have to accept that.
Mr. Paul Szabo: Mr. Speaker, the Chair has often ruled consistently that the only way this will be a matter of concern to the Chair is if an individual Member is accused of committing a criminal act. What could be worse than accusing all the Liberal Members of being corrupt and of having done illegal acts?
The Deputy Speaker: I thought I was clear but let me repeat it. I have not heard any accusations against Liberal Members of Parliament at all or any other Members of Parliament. We are all hon. Members. What I have heard are accusations about a political party. We are going to accept that because I think those discussions will take place throughout the day.
Again, that is different than someone saying that Members of Parliament have engaged in some illegal or improper activity. No one has said that and we will not get into that but we will hear discussions about activities of political parties and that will be heard on both sides of the House throughout the day.
I urge Members to be careful about the difference between talking about activities of political parties and individual Members of Parliament.