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Hon. Kerry-Lynne Findlay

Member of Parliament
Member of the Board of Internal Economy Chief opposition whip Member of the panel of chairs for the legislative committees
Conservative

South Surrey—White Rock
British Columbia
Voting Attendance: 66%
Expenses Last Quarter: $130,172.43

Government Page

Context: House Hansard - 217 - Jun/20/23

Hon. Kerry-Lynne Findlay (South Surrey—White Rock, CPC)

Jun/20/23 1:55:35 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-18

Madam Speaker, I rise on a serious point of order with respect to the right of the member for Lethbridge to speak during the debate that is currently on in the House. At the end of the time provided to question the Minister of Canadian Heritage for his use of time allocation on Bill C-18, the online news act, there was a heated exchange between the minister and the member for Lethbridge. It is no secret that the member for Lethbridge is a fierce critic of the minister and has opposed his legislation every step of the way. She makes the point that Bill C-18 is the next step in the government's censorship of the Internet. The member has repeatedly argued that the minister is the one rewarding tech giants, as he will give them more power with Bill C-18. The minister accused the member for Lethbridge of using the talking points of tech giants in opposition to the bill. In response, the member for Lethbridge accused the minister of lying. We know that term is unparliamentary, and I accept the decision of the Assistant Deputy Speaker to call her to order. It should also be pointed out that, when one member makes a false claim about another member, it is not uncommon for disorder to follow. The member for Lethbridge did the right thing when she said clearly, “I will apologize for using that word.” She went on to say, “He misinformed the House.” This is a matter for debate, although for my part, I agree with her. The Chair took exception to that comment, informing the House that the member for Lethbridge would not be recognized for the remainder of the day. To be clear, the member did not accuse the minister of deliberately misinforming the House. She simply made the point that the minister was misinformed and brought that misinformation to the House. At most, this is a point of debate. It is not something that a member should be sanctioned for. The irony is not lost on me that the member is being censored during debate on what amounts to a censorship bill. In my view, this is a heavy-handed response from the Chair, given the poor behaviour of Liberal members in recent days. The Chair has accepted apologies for behaviour that is far more egregious without Liberal members attracting any sanction. We can take the member for Kingston and the Islands as an example. Last week, he gave me the middle finger when I called him out for denying a unanimous consent motion that called for Paul Bernardo to be put back in maximum security. That member gave the most insincere apology I can recall in the House. There was no sanction for him. In fact, later that day, he was given the floor in the debate. Therefore, I would expect that the apology from the member for Lethbridge would be accepted by the House and that the Chair would allow her to participate in the debate this afternoon. Further, the House would benefit from even-handed application of the rules that is not seen to benefit one party over another. I would like the Speaker to clarify how the rules should be applied, regardless of who is presiding over the debates.

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Context: House Hansard - 64 - May/4/22

Hon. Kerry-Lynne Findlay

May/4/22 3:48:21 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, during question period, in the response to my question about air surveillance during the trucker's strike, the Prime Minister called me a conspiracy theorist and also accused me of misinformation. It was at the end of that response when the unparliamentary language was stated. I heard it, and my colleague, the member of Parliament for Abbotsford, heard it. To save you going through 45 minutes, I am telling you when it was within the debate.

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Member of the Board of Internal Economy Chief opposition whip Member of the panel of chairs for the legislative committees

Hon. Kerry-Lynne Findlay