Madam Speaker: I have a ruling for the House.
On April 16, 1998, during Question Period, I took under advisement, in order to review Hansard, a point of order. It concerned an answer given by the honourable Minister of Justice (Mr. Toews) to a question asked by the honourable member for St. Johns (Mr. Mackintosh). The point of order raised by the House leader for the official opposition alleged that the minister was not responding to the matter raised and was provoking debate.
Having reviewed the Hansard transcript, I must conclude that there indeed was a point of order. The Minister of Justice should have, in responding to the question, complied with the requirements of Beauchesne Citation 417, that is, he should have responded to the matter raised and should not have provoked debate.
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