Senator Carignan: As an aside, when I was told that the leader had called the Prime Minister a “liar,” I heard the word “lawyer.” I was a little surprised, knowing that he is a drama teacher.

That said, as you know, Your Honour, there is no list of unparliamentary language in the Senate. There is no list of unparliamentary language in our procedural literature, and the word “lie” does not appear on any such list, because there is none.

I would like to quote a decision by Speaker Kinsella on December 16, 2011, as recorded in the Journals of the Senate on pages 798 and 799, which reads as follows:

More generally, rule 51 prohibits all “personal, sharp or taxing” language as unparliamentary. There is no definitive list of such words or expressions in the Senate. Determination of what constitutes unparliamentary language is left primarily to the judgment of the Speaker and the sense of the Senate.

I draw your attention to the following words: ‘‘[t]he circumstances and tone of the debate in question play important roles in this determination’’.

I’m drawing your attention to those words because that is what Senator Plett wanted to underscore by putting into context the words he used.

You should also consider rule 6-13(1) in the Speaker’s ruling of October 2, 2012, found in the Senate Journals on page 1586. A number of senators, including Senators Comeau, Cowan, Downe and Duffy, discussed the comments made by Senator Wallin during a debate on harassment in the RCMP. Speaker Kinsella stated the following:

Freedom of speech is a fundamental right necessary for the performance of our duties as parliamentarians. This right, as described in the second edition of House of Commons Procedure and Practice, at pages 89-90, permits members ‘‘...to speak in the House without inhibition, to refer to any matter or express any opinion as they see fit, to say what they feel needs to be said in the furtherance of the national interest...’’. However, this right is not absolute. It is ‘‘[s]ubject . . . .

However, since there is no set list of expressions and we have the right to freedom of expression as parliamentarians, we should be able to raise these questions using the words that we feel are appropriate.

I will stop there. I could give many more examples, including the 2,568 court rulings in Quebec that used the word “liar,” but I don’t think that will be necessary.

[English]

Hon. Claude Carignan: I would like to clarify something. Senator Moncion just raised another point. My understanding is that the point of order raised by Senator Downe was really about Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s comments more directly. There seems to be some confusion. That said, obviously —

[English]