Ontario Community Newspapers

Ontario Scrapbook Hansard, 13 Feb 1929, p. 3

The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

The Star. he went on. had seen In to state limv it"; misatatemtmt can): about. "My immovable friends know." Mr. Sinclair added. "that in a libel action that gscs a long way, it not al- together. to eliminate my chance of action. The Star has :"atcd frankly to the pccplc. on the first opportunity it had. just new the report came ts be published. I suppose that papers. like human beings. are apt to male mistakes once in a whilo. They come forward frankly and ray that tiny have made a mistake" "What More Can Be Done?" "It looks." Mr. Sinclair added. "as ii the Ontario legislature is getting down to the last act of its power." __ Mr. Sinclair, opening his argumentl against the motion, began: "The Pre-' mier concluded his remarks by sayinp that he sought to avoid any party! t1Mttr. It would not, to my mind, re- quire a party man " all to rise and; Ernest against a resolution of this kind: one ot the Legislatures ot the British: linpire. I hold no brief for any news: paper. have no stock in any of them. and am not interested in them in any way whatever. other than to see that all public journals get a square deal, and have representation when they are being assailed. One would think that. instead of being the Ontario Legisla- ture, we had suddenly been transferred to Mexico. There is a trial here and a declaration on a party that is undr- tended, unrepresented. and absent in person. What greater travesty on jus- tice could there be than this in a Legislature." 7 . 2 "If." he declared. "resnlt'1tion; such as this can be passed. there is littlr that canmt be passed." He recalled that a great writer had stated: "Par- liatnent can do anything but make P man I woman. and a woman a man." He. too, then read The star's cur- rccuun. anu continued: 'Mum rune can be done? When the paper .rankly admits an mistake and apologizes, tthy would we go tun-her and pace our- selves, as representatives of the people ot Ontario, m an absolutely ridiculous and absurd position?" Mr. Haney started a little cross-fire with Mr. Sinclair over use of the word "forced." The West Lambton member wanted to tell the House "there's too much suggestion of a one-man Govern- ment, and all this nonsense. I repre- sent a constituency of which I am proud," he started off. but the Speaker cut short this speech and told the ardent Mr. Haney that he was out of order. Mr. Haney apologized. He didn't mean to be out of order. He just wanted to ask Mr. Sinclair it he thought there was some force behind the resolution. "Tum" on Judie." V "There "are nut more than th'my members here when this came up in the House yesterday, on" no more than thir- ty-tive altogether." thc Liberal Leader continued. "anu yet you are getting ready to vow and going to vote on something you don't know anything about." He referred to portions of the "Salli- tion and went on: "This Legislature Is placing itself in the position ot Judge and jury. and trying The Star in its ab- sence. Now, Mr. Speaker. surely the members of the Ontario Legislature are not going to have it knoun that this is the way they do things in this Legisla- ture. Surely good judgment is going to say to the Premier that you had better withdraw your resolution, because the paper has apologized. because it is not represented. nor. here in person. that this is entirely an ex-parte proceeding. and leave the matter where The Star has placed it itself. The Premier says that The Star 'shouts slander and whis- pers an apology.' But I can tell the Premier that it will be no whisper that will go up and down the length and breadth of Ontario when the papers carry the news that he has forced on the Legislature such a resolution as this on on ibsent, undefended party." Ot course. said Mr. Sinclair. the Pre-'; nuer "tech P. keenly, and somebody, has caught somebody domg sonwn.uiugi that a let of people do not approve ot. i, But was that any reason why the. paper. whim: made the mistake should be? "castigated"? i "This just shows the lengths, to which you'll go if the Premier asks you to go." Mr. Sinclair continued. "I repeat what I stated the other day: that this is a one-man Government. And he is asking you to place yourselves in a ridiculous position before the people ot the Province." Like Judge and Jury. Laughter trom Hm benches greeted this, sally. Opposition 'i'ibnoarw-, Affi- He felt that the Premier was askin?, too much. though the Governmen. members would certainly carry th: Iresolutlon. "It is not of sutncient im- i portance." he said. "except as the Prime ,Minister sees it possibly affecting his iown political prosperity, to be handed I to the committee." ."An Ill Return." . To err is human, and to forgive di- ivine." was the sentiment of P. W. Pearson (Liberal. North Yorks. "If." he told the Premier, "you tread on a man's toes and he excuses himself. it is an ill return to buffet him on the :ear." He thought that the misstate- ment was a regrettable matter. but it involved a remarkable affair. and that was the soliciting done among the liquor peoole by the Central Committee. D. J. Taylor (Progressive. North Grey) told the House: "I can't alto- igether agree with the remarks ot my j'iiiii'ir,i" He thought that The Star had made a sincere effort to retract l its statement. and in similar eases such 'a nroccdurc was usuallv considered "enough." He suggsted that it was a matter of "whose ox is being goredA' Believe; #68 Behind n. " think I made it clear that I do," the Liberal Lender replied. A lot of the members, said he, didn't know anything about the resolution until it was intro- duced. "No, no!" came a. shout from the Con- "7.1%.. no!" came a. shout from the Con- servative benches. A U "361325 -prGiiier" Vprepared a. resolution and it is here for you to endorse," Mr. Sinclair retorted. - .. " want, to make absolutely clear the position I take." he went on. He was. said he, as anxious as any member to observe and maintain the dignity and privileges of the Legislature. "But," he added. "when it comes to trying a party i ex parte, without representation, I tor, one stand aside and say I am no party i to it." He would maintain such a posi- l tion. said he, as long as he had a seat, in the House. "This," he continued. "is more than a party matter. It is a matter of jus- tice, right and freedom. The Legislature is taking steps that would not be tol- erated for a minute in any court or other institution. This is a thing that Britons have fought for since there has been a Briton. and will ever fight tor: the freedom ot the individual, and his: right to be heard and give a defense. I ' am obliged to resist any such resolution i as this going on the journals of the! House and handed down to posterity as: part of the proceedings ot a. Legislature i in which I occupy a position as one of i the members of that Legislature." ' Lethbridge" Comments. John G. Lethbridge. Progressive Leader. next took the floor to say that he thought there was "very little reason why a resolution of this kind should be brought before the Legislature." In the main, he said, the report in the paper seemed to be correct. - . -- . , a "1.. _.I-'LI.-.. n... Mr. Oke tool; exception to this de- scription. also to the statement that had been made regarding Progressive Leader Lethbridge and his alleged "suf- :fering from old age." Mr. Lethbridge, lhe believed, was not suffering in any isuch way. but that, on the other hand, he was a very capable leader ot the group at his back. . '"vihtrijiiiiii",'%i; 33113; "is whether the Prime Minister or the Attorney-General ordered the money, returpeg." - Leslie W. Oke (U.F.O., East Lamb- ton) felt that the dignity of the House should be preserved. but he recalled remarks that had been uttered since the opening of this session which, in his opinion, did not maintain that dig- nity. As an example, he cited the defi- nition-"suttering from the disease paresis"--whieh had been applied to Liberal Leader W. E. N. Sinclair. "No, no, members. b Well, said Mr. Lethbridge, at any rate, he would say that. so far as the dignity of the House was concerned, it had been offended "times over" in the past, and he suggested that the whole matter go before the Privileges and Elections Committee. The Government benchers, he said. had laughed over that remark, but, not being an academic man. he had been at a loss to understand what they were laughing at. He had got out a Web- scer's and had found that paresis was a disease caused by softening of the brain. Oke Upholds "is Leader. no!" 'shouted Government

Powered by / Alimenté par VITA Toolkit
Privacy Policy