Madam Speaker: I have a ruling for the House.

I am ruling on a point of order raised by the opposition House leader on May 6. Citing Beauchesne Citation 417, he asserted that, in answering questions during Question Period, both the Minister of Family Services (Mrs. Mitchelson) and the Minister of Education (Mr. McCrae) were not relevant to the questions posed. I took the matter under advisement in order to review Hansard.

As Beauchesne's citation states, answers to questions should be brief, should deal with the matter raised, and should not provoke debate. The opposition House leader did have a point of order. The Minister of Education and the Minister of Family Services were not complying with Citation 417. Ministers should provide brief, relevant and nonprovocative answers.

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