George Alexander Drew (Leader of the Official Opposition)
Progressive Conservative
Mr. George A. Drew (Leader of the Opposition):
Mr. Speaker, on a question of privilege, I wish to refer to a report in the press of what I said yesterday in the house concerning the Easter recess. A Canadian Press dispatch, referring to the request I made yesterday for information as to the date on which the house will rise, states:
Opposition parties indicated in the Commons today they would prefer a longer Easter recess than that suggested by the government.
The report then goes on to refer to my comments on the subject. I should like to point out that I did not ask for a longer recess. The exact words I used were:
No matter what the length of the recess may be, I suggest to the government that this is a fairly obvious consideration . . .
I was referring to the fact that members would wish to be home in the week before Easter. I wish to make it quite clear that the remarks I made did not involve any suggestion of a longer recess, but were directed to the fact that members living some distance away should know what period the recess will include. I also urged that the week before Easter should be made available to enable members to get home in time to make any necessary arrangements before Easter.
Subtopic: REFERENCE TO PRESS
Sub-subtopic: BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE