Madam Speaker: I have a ruling for the House.

On October 15, 1996, during Orders of the Day, the opposition House leader (Mr. Ashton) raised a point of order which the Deputy Speaker took under advisement. The opposition House leader referred to a letter tabled earlier in that sitting by the honourable Minister of Justice (Mrs. Vodrey). That letter referred to a transcript and the transcript had not been tabled when the letter was tabled. The opposition House leader asked whether the transcripts should not also have been tabled. When he raised the point of order, the opposition House leader indicated that he had just received a copy of the letter and this had been his first opportunity to examine the letter.

Beauchesne Citation 495(1) states that a minister is not at liberty to read or quote from a despatch or other state paper not before the House without being prepared to lay it on the table. In reviewing the exchange in Question Period on October 15, which is when the letter was first referenced, the minister did read into the record the paragraph of the letter where the transcript was mentioned. Having researched this issue very thoroughly indeed, I have found no precedent to require the tabling of an attachment or enclosure which was not cited or quoted. Therefore, I am ruling that the honourable minister does not have to table the transcript referred to in the letter which the minister tabled.