Question of Privilege
June 3, 1969
Miscellaneous; budget briefings
Hon. Lucien Lamoureux
Speaker of the House
Ruling Text
It has been long-established that budgetary information is made available to the press under the terms of the strictest secrecy some hours before the same information is made available to the House. The suggestion that this should be a practice of the Government cannot be raised as a question of privilege. There is no prima facie right on the part of the House to insist that the Government shall not give a summary of the budget information to the press prior to its presentation in the House. As a suggestion, it might be useful for the executive to consider whether there should be any advance briefing at all.
Edit Metadata
Holding
"Advance, embargoed budget briefings for the press do not constitute a prima facie question of privilege."
AI Summary
A Speaker's ruling confirms that providing embargoed budget information to the press before the House is an established practice and not a matter of privilege.
AI Analysis
- Outcome
- Denied
- Tone
- Educational
- Procedural Stage
- Routine Proceedings
- Significance
Low
High