Madam Speaker: I have a ruling for the House.

On May 31, 1999, I took under advisement a point of order raised by the honourable member for Kildonan (Mr. Chomiak) respecting words used by the honourable Minister of Health (Mr. Stefanson). The point of order was that the minister had imputed unworthy motives. Hansard shows that the minister said: "it is typical desperation on their part to completely exaggerate, overstate, not come here with facts or whatever" and "to come to this House and try to scare people." The comments did cause disorder, and I would caution the minister when answering questions not to provoke debate. Strictly speaking, however, he did not impute unworthy motives to the honourable member for Kildonan.

I would also like to remind members of the provisions of Beauchesne Citation 468: in speaking to a point of order, the intervention must be confined to the point of order and must not refer to the general tenor of the debate. Members providing advice to the Chair as to whether a rule or practice of this House has been breached are to address the procedural point and not the issue under questioning or debate.