The Hon. the Speaker: Pursuant to the order of Tuesday, June 13, 2023, I leave the chair for the Senate to resolve into a Committee of the Whole to receive Ms. Harriet Solloway respecting her appointment as Public Sector Integrity Commissioner. The Honourable Senator Ringuette will chair the committee.

On the Order:

The Senate in Committee of the Whole in order to receive Ms. Harriet Solloway respecting her appointment as Public Sector Integrity Commissioner.

(The sitting of the Senate was suspended and put into Committee of the Whole, the Honourable Pierrette Ringuette in the chair.)

The Hon. the Speaker: First of all, there are other people who may wish to speak, but I think I have heard the arguments.

Hon. Pierrette Ringuette: I will be brief, Madam Speaker, and thank you for recognizing me.

This is not the first time in the last month that a point of order on this subject has been brought to the attention of the Chair. I believe that a point of order has already been raised, and Speaker Furey ruled on the subject. Perhaps some of our colleagues have forgotten that ruling.

Perhaps we simply need to remind colleagues that a ruling has already been made and accepted by everyone in the chamber. Thank you.

Hon. Jane Cordy: Your Honour, I would like to raise a point of order. I’m noticing increasingly in the chamber, particularly during Question Period, unparliamentary language being used over and over again by senators. As I said, it is happening particularly during Question Period. It is unacceptable in the Senate that we accuse one another of being liars or that we accuse ministers of being liars. It is unparliamentary and should be unacceptable. I would like to raise this point of order, Your Honour.

Hon. Donald Neil Plett (Leader of the Opposition): I find it unacceptable when we are not allowed in this chamber to call a spade a spade. We were told a few months ago by the previous Speaker that calling somebody a liar was unacceptable, and we accepted that. But for us to say somebody is not telling the truth when a person has been caught in telling an untruth, Your Honour, is our duty. Any senator who believes that is not our duty should check to see what his or her responsibility is in this chamber.

When we have a minister who misleads and a Prime Minister who misleads and says things that have been proven over and over again to be false, for somebody to suggest that is unparliamentary for us to say so, that, Your Honour, I suggest is unparliamentary. I will keep on doing my job, our caucus will keep on doing its job, and I trust that every senator in this chamber will respect us for doing our job as we see fit.

[Translation]

Hon. Claude Carignan: Madam Speaker, look, we have a constitutional right, as parliamentarians, to speak the truth, to say things, and to denounce what needs to be denounced. That is our duty.

I have 11 statements from an individual who keeps saying the same thing over and over but is being contradicted by everyone who is supposed to advise him — all the leaders and police chiefs — and this has been proven. I think it’s our role to say when people are being misled. I completely understand the purpose of the concept of unparliamentary language, but a spade is a spade, and we need to call it a spade.

If we are limited in our power to speak out, in our freedom of expression, in our right to denounce what is false, I think it will diminish our responsibility and do a disservice to democracy. We must have the right to express our opinions and our judgments. In fact, we have a duty to do so.

[English]

Hon. Raymonde Saint-Germain: I think that, to support you, Madam Speaker, in your role of maintaining order and decorum in this chamber of sober second thought, first of all, I agree with the point of order raised by my colleague, Senator Cordy.

I also think that we should take a constructive look at the experiences of Canada’s provincial parliaments that adopted codes, rules and lists of non-parliamentary terms. I would even add that we could follow the example of the House of Commons in that regard.

Thank you.

The Hon. the Speaker: Asta Stalker, Deputy Chief Page, recently completed her Bachelor of Arts Honours in Linguistics at Carleton University and is looking forward to pursuing her common law degree at the University of Ottawa starting this fall. Asta is grateful to have had the opportunity to represent the province of Nova Scotia within the Senate Page Program for the past three years. She would like to sincerely thank the Usher of the Black Rod’s office, the honourable senators, the Senate Administration and her page colleagues for teaching her so much these past few years and making this experience unforgettable.

Thank you, Asta.