Legislature Notebook: Wall downplays potential tax changes

The saga of Bev Oda and the wayward "not" has gripped the House of Commons. But it turns out a recent situation from Saskatchewan provincial politics has worked its way into the debate over whether the Conservative international co-operation minister breached the parliamentary privileges of MPs. Just before the House of Commons broke for a week, NDP MP Libby Davies raised in debate a ruling by Speaker Don Toth. In the spring 2010 sitting of the legislature, Toth found there was enough evidence to suggest Health Minister Don McMorris had misled the assembly to warrant a debate over whether he was in contempt of the legislature…"I believe that in this ruling, the Speaker in Saskatchewan clearly established that the test is not the member's statement in reply to an allegation, but it is actually the evidence before the Speaker that establishes the prima facie case," she said.