Madam Speaker: I have two rulings for the House.

I took under advisement on October 8, 1996, during Question Period a point of order raised by the opposition House leader about an answer provided to a question by the Premier. The opposition House leader asked that the Premier be directed to answer the question and to withdraw comments. I believe the words spoken by the Premier in question were: "the irresponsible attitude of the members opposite, cheering on this situation, is the ugliest situation that we ever have to deal with in this House."

Beauchesne Citation 417 states in part that answers should deal with the matter raised and should not provoke debate. I do believe that the Premier's comments were provocative and I would encourage him to choose his words carefully.

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