Good afternoon, colleagues. I wish to give my ruling on the point of order raised by Mr. Miltenberger on October 24, 2013, with respect to comments made by Mr. Hawkins on the previous day. I would like to thank all Members who spoke to the point of order.
Mr. Miltenberger’s point of order was on the content, volume and tone of Mr. Hawkins’ comments in his oral questions to Mr. Beaulieu on October 23rd violated Rule 23(k) as insulting and abusive language, and 23(l) as speaking disrespectfully of any Member.
Mrs. Groenewegen, in speaking to the point of order, said, at page 3 of unedited Hansard, she also found Mr. Hawkins' comments “to be offensive and it did, in my opinion, reduce the demeanour of our House.”
In responding to the point of order, Mr. Hawkins said, at page 3 of unedited Hansard, “I’m here to do my job and demand results, Mr. Speaker, and sometimes that does cause one to raise the energy in the debate.”
I am guided by the second edition of House of Commons Procedure and Practice, 2009, which states at page 619, “In dealing with unparliamentary language, the Speaker takes into account the tone, manner and intention of the Member speaking; the person to whom the words at issue were directed, the degree of provocation; and most importantly, whether or not the remarks created disorder in the Chamber.”
I have reviewed Mr. Hawkins’ comments from October 23rd and, taken with the volume and tone in which he made them, I consider they did cross the line of being insulting, abusive and disrespectful. The specific remarks are those quoted by Minister Miltenberger in his point of order, which I don’t want to repeat here because we have already spent enough time on this.
I can appreciate that Members do sometimes need to speak with “energy” to make their points and represent their constituents; however, this went too far.
We are a consensus system of government and we have our own standards. A style of debate that might be business as usual in other Legislatures is not necessarily acceptable to this House. As Mr. Miltenberger stated, at page 2 of the unedited Hansard, “We pride ourselves on the decorum of this House, the propriety of the way we do business.”
Members, given the events of that day, I also want to take the opportunity to remind you of a few things:
Members must speak through the Chair. Speaking directly to other Members as “you” is not acceptable.
Members must not interrupt the Chair. When the Chair calls a Member’s name to caution him or her about continuing to speak when another Member has the floor, that Member needs to stop speaking right away.
These are not my personal rules. They are your rules, Members, and they are there to keep order and decorum in this House.
Let me also remind Members, for the third or fourth time during this sitting, that we are here to work for the people of the Northwest Territories. Be respectful of each other and this House, thicken your skins if you have to and let’s get the work done for the people.
There is a point of order. I will now go to Mr. Hawkins and ask him to withdraw his remarks. Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Actually, I thought about this over the weekend and wondered how you would rule on this particular item. Obviously, I was hoping you would rule on my area, but your wisdom and guidance of the documentation before you has led you to your decision today and that I will respect.
Mr. Speaker, in short, I find it unimaginable how to take back…
Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. What I was going to say, in a roundabout way, was I find it difficult to take back passion and energy, but with that said, what I will do is I will respect the ruling and I will apologize for any concerns that I may have inflicted on Cabinet. What I will say, in short and in final, Mr. Speaker, it will not temper my passion to get the job done. Thank you.
Mr. Hawkins, I asked you to withdraw your remarks. Mr. Hawkins, will you withdraw your remarks to the House and apologize to the House?
Sorry, Mr. Speaker. It’s hard to hear you over Mrs. Groenewegen, who keeps talking. I missed what you said.
Mr. Hawkins, I’m asking you to withdraw your remarks and to apologize to the House.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I could hear you that time. I apologize to the House in full. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Hawkins, you’re wasting more time of this House. I’m going to ask you once again to withdraw your remarks and apologize to the House.
My apologies, Mr. Speaker. That was my intent when I said I apologize to this House sincerely and fully, and with that, I withdraw my remarks. My apologies for missing that last piece. It was not intended in any other manner.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The second time I had you do that, the first time was making comments to Mrs. Groenewegen. So you apologize for that and you apologize for what’s been said. Thank you for the apology. We’ll proceed.
