Madam Speaker: I have two rulings for the House.
I am ruling on a matter I took under advisement on May 27 during Question Period. The opposition House leader raised a point of order about the orderliness of an answer provided by the honourable Minister of Justice (Mr. Toews) to a question posed by the honourable member for St. Johns (Mr. Mackintosh). The answer was: "I note how the member, on the one hand, slams the professional people who are working in our public service and that he in fact seems to derive a certain amount of pleasure out of criticizing public servants."
The honourable member for Thompson (Mr. Ashton) did have a point of order in that the Minister of Justice did contravene Beauchesne Citation 417 because the reply did not appear to be responding to the question asked. I cannot sustain the charge that the minister was imputing motives, but I would encourage all ministers when replying to questions to respond directly to the matter raised in the question.
I took under advisement on June 19, so that I could review Hansard, a point of order raised by the government House leader during Question Period. The point of order concerned the use of the word "fraudulent" by the honourable member for St. Johns (Mr. Mackintosh) in putting a question to the Premier. The word was used in the question: "Will he admit that the election promise that he made at the Remand Centre and before all those lights and cameras was fraudulent . . . "
Beauchesne Citation 490 on page 148 shows that the word "fraudulent" has been ruled to be parliamentary, but Citation 489 on page 145 shows that the word "fraud" and the words "fraudulent character" have been ruled out of order in the House of Commons. We have several Manitoba Speakers' rulings on the use of the words "fraud" and "fraudulent." I would also draw the attention of the House to Beauchesne Citation 491, which on the subject of language reads in part: "A word which is parliamentary in one context may cause disorder in another context, and therefore be unparliamentary."
In the matter raised on June 19, I am ruling that the government House leader did not have a point of order, but based on previous Manitoba precedent, I would urge all honourable members to pick and choose their words with care so as not to cause disorder.
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