Question of Privilege
June 23, 2022
Question of privilege concerning technical issues during the sitting of June 21, 2022
Hon. Anthony Rota
Speaker of the House
Ruling Text
The Speaker:
I am now prepared to rule on the question of privilege raised yesterday by the member for Calgary Centre.
The member contended that the decision taken by unanimous consent to adjourn the sitting of June 21, 2022, constitutes a breach of his privileges. He noted that due to the technical difficulties with our video conferencing system, he was unable to participate in the proceedings of the House when this decision was made. He equated this matter with previous situations where members were prevented from physically accessing the chamber and asked that the Chair find a prima facie question of privilege.
[Translation]
I thank the member for raising this matter. As I indicated in my statement yesterday, the sitting of June 21, 2022, was suspended due to a connectivity problem external to the House of Commons
[English]
It is clear to the Chair that there was no deliberate attempt to interfere with the member's ability to participate in the proceedings. When it was brought to the Chair's attention that there was a widespread outage preventing members from participating, the sitting was suspended. Once it became apparent that it would not be possible to resolve the matter quickly, following discussions with representatives of all parties, the sitting was resumed to allow a motion to adjourn to be presented. The motion was adopted with the unanimous agreement of all members present.
[Translation]
The Chair recognizes that the member was not able to provide his consent for that decision. It was specifically because some members could not participate that the House agreed to adjourn early. The decision was made with the express intent of protecting the rights of those members participating by videoconference. Continuing to sit in those circumstances would have been more problematic for the privileges of members than making a decision to adjourn,
[English]
Therefore, the Chair cannot find that this matter constitutes a question of privilege.
I thank all members for their attention.
Edit Metadata
Holding
"A member's inability to participate in proceedings due to a widespread technical failure does not constitute a prima facie question of privilege, as there was no deliberate interference with their duties."
AI Summary
The Speaker denied a question of privilege concerning a member's inability to participate due to a technical outage, ruling the subsequent adjournment was a protective measure, not a breach of rights.
AI Analysis
- Outcome
- Denied
- Tone
- Neutral
- Procedural Stage
- Routine Proceedings
- Significance
Low
High