HON. KAREN CASEY: Mr. Speaker, with your indulgence and the indulgence of the House I wish to make a statement. I want to provide clarification around a remark I made in this House yesterday during Oral Question Period. The honourable member for Clare asked questions of the Minister of Finance in English, and the minister responded in French only. When I rose to start the next question, I suggested I would ask a question everyone would understand.

HON. TIM HOUSTON (The Premier): Speaker, I'd like to retract two words I used in Question Period yesterday.

THE SPEAKER: Thank you for doing that. This would be a good opportunity maybe to have the member for Dartmouth North retract and apologize as well.

[1:45 p.m.]

The honourable member for Dartmouth North.

MR. KEITH BAIN: Mr. Speaker, the NDP's attack on job creators continues. Egg Studios recently announced they will continue to pursue legal recourse and a judicial review appeal to the Supreme Court in their effort to reverse the decision of the NDP's new labour board, under NDP law, to certify a group of technical employees earlier this year.

...

HON. STEPHEN MCNEIL: My question to the Premier is, why does the Premier think it's okay to take land from a Nova Scotia family business to give to a large multinational corporation yet won't consider taking land back from Resolute?

THE PREMIER: Mr. Speaker, I'll await your ruling on this but I believe that is a matter before the courts and any response to that question would be inappropriate.

TOM TAGGART: I've checked and some of the language that the member opposite is using is unparliamentary.

THE SPEAKER: The honourable member for Halifax Atlantic.

BRENDAN MAGUIRE: I apologize. The only time I'll use the word "dam" is when I say Williams Lake Dam. I will not use it in a derogatory term. I apologize. I mean, it slipped out. If you're offended by the word "damn," I apologize.

SUSAN LEBLANC: I'm rising on a point of order. In Question Period today, we heard the Minister responsible for the Status of Women use the term "theatrical" when describing a member of the NDP caucus when they were asking a question.

I am a theatrical person, but I would say when used in this context, words like "theatrical" or "dramatic" or "hysterical" are synonymous with each other and they are meant to be derogatory. I'm asking you as the Speaker to rule the word "theatrical," when directed at a person in a derogatory way, unparliamentary.

FRED TILLEY: Today I rise on a point of order. Yesterday, Mr. Speaker, the member for Waverley-Fall River-Beaver Bank rose on a point of order regarding a question I had asked on October 19^th. He indicated that a document wasn't tabled and that the document doesn't exist.

Mr. Speaker, although I didn't quote directly from that document, I have it here today and I'll read an excerpt from it. "The Premier's Office violated access law twice. Tricia Ralph released two reports last Friday and in each she found the Premier's Office violating . . ."

SUSAN LEBLANC: What is it about this decision that the Premier has decided, well, it's my way or the highway? I've decided this. I have gone down this road. I'm going to keep going down this road come hell or high water. I don't know if I'm allowed to say that - you can't say hell or high water. All right.

I'm going to go down - I'm wondering - I retract that statement, Mx. Speaker. I wonder why the Premier is saying - why the Premier is going down this road no matter what.

THE SPEAKER: The honourable member for Halifax Atlantic.

HON. BRENDAN MAGUIRE: First of all, I want to apologize for last night. I referred to you twice using the incorrect pronouns. You weren't here but as the night got later, I got tired and I want to apologize.

THE SPEAKER: Order. You are not supposed to comment on somebody's attendance, but thank you for the apology.

BRENDAN MAGUIRE: You weren't in the seat, is what I meant to say. You were here. I don't know, but anyway I'm just putting my foot further and further into my mouth. I would just like to apologize.