Rules of Debate / Order and Decorum

Prime Minister alleged to have deliberately misled the House

March 8, 2005

Debates, p. 4120

On February 24, 2005, Alexa McDonough (Halifax) rose on a point of order. She alleged that Paul Martin (Prime Minister) had deliberately misled the House by declaring, during Oral Questions on February 23, 2005,^[1] that the Government had not yet made a decision on Canada’s participation in ballistic missile defence when, in fact, the decision had already been made.^[2] On February 25, 2005, Tony Valeri (Leader of the Government in the House of Commons) responded that, while the Prime Minister and certain Ministers had reached a decision earlier concerning the course of action they would recommend to Cabinet, Cabinet itself did not actually make its final decision until after the Prime Minister had answered the question in the House, and the Prime Minister’s answer was therefore not misleading. The Speaker took the matter under advisement.^[3]

On March 8, 2005, the Speaker delivered his ruling. He stated that he could not find any evidence that a decision on ballistic missile defence had been reached prior to the Cabinet meeting of February 24, 2005, nor could he find anything in the Debates that would contradict the sequence of events set out by the Government House Leader. He concluded that he was therefore unable to find that there had been an attempt to mislead the House.

Decision of the Chair

The Speaker: I am now prepared to rule on the point of order raised on February 24, 2005, by the hon. Member for Halifax, who alleged that the House was deliberately misled by certain remarks made by the Prime Minister in responding to a question during Question Period the previous day.

I would like to thank the hon. Member for Halifax for having raised this question, as well as the hon. Government House Leader for his contribution on the issue.

The hon. Member for Halifax alleged that in answering a question during oral question period on Wednesday, February 23, 2005, the Rt. Hon. Prime Minister deliberately misled the House by declaring that the Government had not yet made a decision on Canada’s participation in ballistic missile defence.

In addition, she contended that the Minister of Foreign Affairs, in announcing the Government’s decision to the House during debate on February 24, had confirmed that the Government had made its decision prior to the Prime Minister’s response during the February 23 Question Period, noting, in fact, that the decision had already been communicated to the United States Secretary of State, Dr. Condoleezza Rice.

The hon. Member for Halifax went on to request that the Prime Minister be asked to rise in the House to correct the record as to when the Government took the decision not to participate in ballistic missile defence and when this decision was communicated to the United States Secretary of State.

The hon. Government House Leader rose on February 25 to speak to the point of order. He argued that in our parliamentary system no decision can be said to have been made until Cabinet has agreed to it. According to him, the decision that Canada would not participate in ballistic missile defence was made at the Cabinet meeting held on the morning of February 24 and the decision was announced to the House by the hon. Minister of Foreign Affairs when he spoke during the budget debate shortly before 12 noon on that day.

As for notifying Dr. Rice, the hon. House Leader explained that the Minister of Foreign Affairs had spoken to his counterpart as a courtesy, knowing, as he did, the conclusion that the Prime Minister and he had reached and were to recommend to Cabinet.

I have consulted the Debates for the days in question and find no evidence, either in the remarks of the Minister of Foreign Affairs or in the questions and comments period that followed, that a decision was reached prior to the Cabinet meeting of February 24. Indeed, I find nothing that would contradict the description of the course of events set out by the hon. Government House Leader.

No doubt, Members speaking on behalf of the opposition parties would have preferred that the Minister’s announcement be made during the time provided for ministers’ statements so they might have been permitted an opportunity to respond. However, in the circumstances, I am unable to find that there has been an attempt to mislead the House.

I hope that the statement by the hon. House Leader has provided the clarification that the hon. Member from Halifax sought when she raised her point of order.