Speech (House debate)

{
    "time": "2018-02-28 15:15:00",
    "attribution": {
        "en": "Mr. Luc Berthold (M\u00e9gantic\u2014L'\u00c9rable, CPC)",
        "fr": "M. Luc Berthold (M\u00e9gantic\u2014L'\u00c9rable, PCC)"
    },
    "content": {
        "en": "<p data-HoCid=\"5291468\" data-originallang=\"fr\">Mr. Speaker, it is my duty to inform the Speaker of the House of an incident that occurred yesterday when the budget was tabled in the House by the <a data-HoCid=\"214320\" href=\"/politicians/bill-morneau/\" title=\"Bill Morneau\">Minister of Finance</a>. </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"5291469\" data-originallang=\"fr\">The House of Commons is not an instrument of government. The House of Commons is not a place where the Minister of Finance has permission to control who has or does not have the right to be present in this place.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"5291470\" data-originallang=\"fr\">A guest from my riding wanted to be present when the Minister of Finance made his presentation and opposition members subsequently made their statements. She therefore requested an access card in order to attend the budget presentation. She was very surprised to learn that all seats, including those reserved for opposition members, had been reserved by the Minister of Finance. I still asked her to attend, in case a seat became available.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"5291471\" data-originallang=\"fr\">Mr. Speaker, you and I noted that there were many seats available in all the galleries yesterday, so I told my guest to come and attend the budget presentation.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"5291472\" data-originallang=\"fr\">To her astonishment, the finance department official denied her access to the House and would not give her an access card. My guest is the manager of my constituency office. She came all this way to attend the budget presentation. She has an ID card that allows her to move about on the Hill. She then went to the Parliamentary Protective Service and asked them to let her in. However, they had orders not to admit anyone without a pass from the Department of Finance. She then went back to the rotunda and reminded the finance department official that there were seats available, but she still denied her access to the House.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"5291473\" data-originallang=\"fr\">My guest then sent me a text message to inform me that she was unable to attend. I had to leave the House and miss several minutes of the finance minister's speech to go meet my employee and accompany her to the gallery, where she was finally able to see the presentation.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"5291474\" data-originallang=\"fr\">Mr. Speaker, this is unacceptable.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"5291475\" data-originallang=\"en\">Members will recall that last year, on budget day, there were two incidents. The first one involved the distribution of the budget documents. The documents were distributed before the <a data-HoCid=\"214320\" href=\"/politicians/bill-morneau/\" title=\"Bill Morneau\">Minister of Finance</a> rose in the House to present the budget, and even more offensive was the fact that the documents were distributed to Liberal members only. The second matter involved the vote that preceded the budget presentation. The members for <a data-HoCid=\"214228\" href=\"/politicians/lisa-raitt/\" title=\"Lisa Raitt\">Milton</a> and <a data-HoCid=\"213862\" href=\"/politicians/maxime-bernier/\" title=\"Maxime Bernier\">Beauce</a> were prevented from attending that vote because security was holding the buses that carry members to the House on account of empty cars from the <a data-HoCid=\"214296\" href=\"/politicians/justin-trudeau/\" title=\"Justin Trudeau\">Prime Minister's</a> motorcade. </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"5291476\" data-originallang=\"en\">Mr. Speaker, both of those cases and the case before you today have involved the interference of the executive branch with the administrative responsibilities of the House. It is your duty, Mr. Speaker, to ensure that the Department of Finance gets out of our way and allows us to control our own affairs. You, Mr. Speaker, are responsible for the distribution of documents in the House, access to the House, and access to the galleries, not the Department of Finance.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"5291477\" data-originallang=\"en\">Last year, the matter of access to the House was settled through a question of privilege, and the distribution of documents was dealt with by you personally, Mr. Speaker. I am asking you to intervene again this year and to once again rein in the executive branch. This place belongs to us, not them.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"5291478\" data-originallang=\"en\"> Speaker Fraser summed it up this way when he was faced with the behaviour of the Department of Finance in 1989. He said, on October 10, 1989:</p>\n<blockquote><p data-HoCid=\"5291479\" data-originallang=\"en\"> I expect the Department of Finance...to study this ruling carefully and remind everyone within the Public Service that we are a parliamentary democracy, not a so-called executive democracy nor a so-called administrative democracy. </p>\n</blockquote>",
        "fr": "<p data-HoCid=\"5291468\" data-originallang=\"fr\">Monsieur le Pr\u00e9sident, il est de mon devoir de rapporter au Pr\u00e9sident de la Chambre un \u00e9v\u00e9nement qui est survenu hier au moment du d\u00e9p\u00f4t du budget \u00e0 la Chambre par le <a data-HoCid=\"214320\" href=\"/politicians/bill-morneau/\" title=\"Bill Morneau\">ministre des Finances</a>.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"5291469\" data-originallang=\"fr\">La Chambre des communes n'est pas un instrument du gouvernement. La Chambre des communes n'est pas un lieu o\u00f9 le ministre des Finances \u00e0 la permission de prendre le contr\u00f4le de qui a le droit ou n'a pas le droit d'\u00eatre pr\u00e9sent dans cette enceinte.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"5291470\" data-originallang=\"fr\">Une invit\u00e9e de ma circonscription voulait assister \u00e0 la pr\u00e9sentation du ministre des Finances et aux d\u00e9clarations subs\u00e9quentes des membres de l'opposition. Elle a donc demand\u00e9 une carte d'acc\u00e8s pour assister \u00e0 la pr\u00e9sentation du budget. Elle a \u00e9t\u00e9 tr\u00e8s surprise d'apprendre que toutes les places, m\u00eame celles r\u00e9serv\u00e9es aux d\u00e9put\u00e9s de l'opposition, avaient \u00e9t\u00e9 r\u00e9serv\u00e9es par le minist\u00e8re des Finances. Je lui ai quand m\u00eame demand\u00e9 de venir, au cas o\u00f9 une place serait disponible.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"5291471\" data-originallang=\"fr\">Monsieur le Pr\u00e9sident, vous, comme moi, avez \u00e9t\u00e9 en mesure de constater qu'il y avait beaucoup de places disponibles dans toutes les tribunes hier. J'ai donc avis\u00e9 mon invit\u00e9e de se pr\u00e9senter pour assister au budget.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"5291472\" data-originallang=\"fr\">\u00c0 sa grande surprise, la repr\u00e9sentante du minist\u00e8re des Finances lui a refus\u00e9 l'acc\u00e8s \u00e0 la Chambre et n'a pas voulu lui donner une carte d'acc\u00e8s. Mon invit\u00e9e est la directrice de mon bureau de circonscription. Elle a fait le d\u00e9placement jusqu'ici pour assister \u00e0 la pr\u00e9sentation du budget. Elle a une carte d'identit\u00e9 pour circuler sur la Colline. Elle est donc mont\u00e9e pour demander aux services de protection parlementaire de la laisser entrer. Ces derniers avaient re\u00e7u l'ordre de ne laisser entrer personne sans laissez-passer du minist\u00e8re des Finances. Elle est donc retourn\u00e9e dans la rotonde, rappelant \u00e0 la repr\u00e9sentante du minist\u00e8re des Finances que plusieurs places \u00e9taient disponibles. La repr\u00e9sentante a continu\u00e9 de lui refuser l'acc\u00e8s \u00e0 la Chambre.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"5291473\" data-originallang=\"fr\">Elle a donc communiqu\u00e9 avec moi par message texte pour m'aviser qu'elle ne pouvait pas \u00eatre pr\u00e9sente. J'ai d\u00fb m'absenter et me priver de quelques minutes du discours du ministre des Finances pour aller rencontrer mon employ\u00e9e et l'accompagner jusqu'aux tribunes o\u00f9 elle a finalement pu assister \u00e0 la pr\u00e9sentation.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"5291474\" data-originallang=\"fr\">Monsieur le Pr\u00e9sident, c'est une situation inacceptable.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"5291475\" data-originallang=\"en\"> Les d\u00e9put\u00e9s se rappelleront que deux incidents sont survenus l'ann\u00e9e derni\u00e8re, le jour du budget. Le premier incident a eu lieu lors de la distribution des documents budg\u00e9taires. Les documents ont \u00e9t\u00e9 distribu\u00e9s avant que le <a data-HoCid=\"214320\" href=\"/politicians/bill-morneau/\" title=\"Bill Morneau\">ministre des Finances</a> pr\u00e9sente le budget \u00e0 la Chambre, et, fait encore plus choquant, ce ne sont que les d\u00e9put\u00e9s lib\u00e9raux qui les ont re\u00e7us. Le deuxi\u00e8me incident s'est produit lors du vote qui a pr\u00e9c\u00e9d\u00e9 la pr\u00e9sentation du budget. La d\u00e9put\u00e9e de <a data-HoCid=\"214228\" href=\"/politicians/lisa-raitt/\" title=\"Lisa Raitt\">Milton</a> et le d\u00e9put\u00e9 de <a data-HoCid=\"213862\" href=\"/politicians/maxime-bernier/\" title=\"Maxime Bernier\">Beauce</a> n'ont pas pu participer \u00e0 ce vote parce que les autobus qui am\u00e8nent les d\u00e9put\u00e9s \u00e0 la Chambre \u00e9taient retenus par le service de s\u00e9curit\u00e9 \u00e0 cause des voitures vides de l'escorte motoris\u00e9e du <a data-HoCid=\"214296\" href=\"/politicians/justin-trudeau/\" title=\"Justin Trudeau\">premier ministre</a>.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"5291476\" data-originallang=\"en\">Monsieur le Pr\u00e9sident, dans ces deux cas comme dans celui dont vous \u00eates saisis aujourd'hui, le pouvoir ex\u00e9cutif a nui \u00e0 la capacit\u00e9 de la Chambre de s'acquitter de ses responsabilit\u00e9s administratives. Il est de votre devoir, monsieur le Pr\u00e9sident, de veiller \u00e0 ce que le minist\u00e8re des Finances ne nuise pas \u00e0 nos fonctions administratives. Ce n'est pas le minist\u00e8re des Finances, mais bien vous, monsieur le Pr\u00e9sident, qui \u00eates responsable de la distribution des documents \u00e0 la Chambre, de l'acc\u00e8s \u00e0 la Chambre et de l'acc\u00e8s \u00e0 la tribune.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"5291477\" data-originallang=\"en\">L'ann\u00e9e derni\u00e8re, la question de l'acc\u00e8s \u00e0 la tribune a \u00e9t\u00e9 r\u00e9gl\u00e9e dans le cadre d'un recours \u00e0 la question de privil\u00e8ge, et c'est vous, monsieur le Pr\u00e9sident, qui avez veill\u00e9 personnellement \u00e0 la distribution des documents. Je vous demande donc d'intervenir de nouveau cette ann\u00e9e et de rappeler le pouvoir ex\u00e9cutif \u00e0 l'ordre une fois de plus. C'est notre assembl\u00e9e et non la leur.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"5291478\" data-originallang=\"en\">Le Pr\u00e9sident Fraser a r\u00e9sum\u00e9 les choses comme suit lorsqu'il a eu \u00e0 faire face au comportement du minist\u00e8re des Finances en 1989. Le 10 octobre 1989, il a dit:</p>\n<blockquote><p data-HoCid=\"5291479\" data-originallang=\"en\"> Je m'attends \u00e0 ce que le minist\u00e8re des Finances [...] [\u00e9tudie] cette d\u00e9cision avec soin et je rappelle \u00e0 tous, dans la fonction publique, que nous sommes une d\u00e9mocratie parlementaire et non une d\u00e9mocratie de type ex\u00e9cutif ou de type administratif. </p>\n</blockquote>"
    },
    "url": "/debates/2018/2/28/luc-berthold-1/",
    "politician_url": "/politicians/luc-berthold/",
    "politician_membership_url": "/politicians/memberships/4436/",
    "procedural": false,
    "source_id": "9992795",
    "h1": {
        "en": "Oral Questions",
        "fr": "Questions Orales"
    },
    "h2": {
        "en": "Points of Order",
        "fr": "Recours au R\u00e8glement"
    },
    "h3": {
        "en": "Guests in the Gallery",
        "fr": "Les pr\u00e9sences \u00e0 la tribune"
    },
    "document_url": "/debates/2018/2/28/",
    "related": {
        "document_speeches_url": "/speeches/?document=%2Fdebates%2F2018%2F2%2F28%2F"
    }
}