2003 Legislative Session: 4th Session, 37th Parliament
The following electronic version is for informational purposes only.
The printed version remains the official version.
Nos. 10 and 11
OF THE
Thursday, February 20, 2003
Ten o'clock a.m.
Prayers by Mr. Kerr.
The Speaker delivered his reserved decision as follows:
Honourable Members:
On Thursday, May 30th, 2002, the Leader of the Opposition rose to present a matter of privilege relating to an alleged disclosure of the contents of a report of the Special Committee to Review the Police Complaint Process, by the Chair of that Committee.
I thank the Honourable Member for her succinct presentation, and the Government House Leader's contribution of Thursday, February 13th, 2003, on this question.
In her submission, the Leader of the Opposition stated that the article which appeared in the Vancouver Sun on May 28th, 2002, violated her privileges as a Member of the House. The article in question quoted the Chair of the Committee in relation to Committee proceedings.
For his part, the Government House Leader argued that when the Chair spoke to the media, the Committee had not yet considered its report, that there was no report on May 27th and therefore the Member could not possibly have released details of a report that simply did not exist.
I will now carefully outline the facts and chronology of events because of their pertinence to this decision.
After several meetings to review the police complaint process, the Committee held a meeting of significance on Monday, May 27th, 2002. The first part of the meeting was in camera. The Committee then met in public forum.
In the public segment of this meeting, the Chair made a statement that the Police Complaint Commissioner had tendered his resignation to the Speaker, effective that very day. The Chair, continuing in public forum, further explained the details of the terms and conditions respecting the resignation.
An examination of the Committee's minutes of proceedings and the Hansard report of May 27th, 2002, clearly confirms that the terms and conditions of the resignation were in fact discussed in the public portion of that meeting. Upon adjournment of the Committee, the Chair then proceeded to share exactly the same information with the media outside the committee room.
These facts, specifically the resignation and its terms and conditions, were then reported in the May 28th Vancouver Sun article submitted by the Leader of the Opposition.
On May 30th, 2002, the Special Committee to Review the Police Complaint Process presented its report to the House, a report that contained no additional information other than that which had been made public at the Committee meeting earlier in the week. Again, the report strictly addressed the resignation and its terms and conditions.
I have carefully examined the material presented by the Leader of the Opposition in her submission which included the Committee's report to the House. A report to the House, by extension, is comprised of and is complemented by the corresponding minutes of proceedings and the Hansard report of all the committee meetings. It appears to me that the information, which the Chair disclosed to the media, was not information relating to decisions and recommendations arising out of in camera proceedings.
The Chair's information to the media related to matters and only matters that had been made public by the Chair when the Committee was meeting in public forum.
This was all in the public domain well before the Committee tabled its report to the House on May 30th. On the facts, I cannot find that there was a premature publication of confidential or in camera committee material.
On the question before the House today, I must rule that the matter raised by the honourable the Leader of the Opposition does not constitute a prima facie matter of privilege.
The Chair notes that premature disclosure of the contents of a report to the House, before tabling in the House, is a potential breach of the privileges of this House and of its Members, a situation that the Chair considers extremely serious. May's 19th edition, at page 146 states:
"By the ancient custom of Parliament, no act done by any committee should be divulged before the same be reported to the House ... Where the public are admitted, this rule is usually not enforced."
In this instance the Committee had made a public statement on the matter at its public meeting, and the statement was not a Committee proceeding "conducted with closed doors". (May, 19th edition, at p. 146.)
I would, nevertheless, remind the House that when a committee is mandated to undertake a certain task, the committee usually presents a report to the House at the conclusion of its work. Committee reports should be presented to the House before public release. The practice of discussing the contents of reports to the House in public session should be discouraged as the Committee has a duty to report its findings first and foremost to the House.
Claude Richmond, Speaker
The House proceeded to "Orders of the Day."
Pursuant to Order, the House resumed the adjourned debate on the motion "That the Speaker do now leave the Chair" for the House to go into Committee of Supply.
The debate continued.
On the motion of Mr. Nijjar, the debate was adjourned to the next sitting of the House.
And then the house adjourned at 12.00 p.m.
Thursday, February 20, 2003
Two o'clock p.m.
Order called for "Members' Statements."
Order called for "Oral Questions by Members."
Ms. Roddick presented the Report of the Select Standing Committee on Health for the Third Session of the Thirty-seventh Parliament.
The Report was taken as read and received.
By leave of the House, Ms. Roddick moved that the Report be adopted.
Motion agreed to.
The House proceeded to "Orders of the Day."
Pursuant to Order, the House resumed the adjourned debate on the motion "That the Speaker do now leave the Chair" for the House to go into Committee of Supply.
The debate continued.
On the motion of Ms. McMahon, the debate was adjourned to the next sitting of the House.
And then the House adjourned at 5.57 p.m.
CLAUDE RICHMOND, Speaker
NOTICE OF MOTIONS
Tuesday, February 25
Motion to replace existing Motion 24
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