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November 9, 1978
The complaint was raised at the earliest opportunity. The letter from the Solicitor General to Mr. Lawrence can be considered a proceeding in Parliament for the purpose of privilege. A contempt...
The Speaker found a prima facie case of contempt, ruling that a minister's letter is a proceeding in Parliament and the sub judice convention does not apply to a Royal Commission.
April 17, 1978
The Minister of Finance denied the possibility of a leak of budget information respecting the sales tax and, of course, the House must accept his word. The Chair has serious doubts as to whether...
The Speaker denied a question of privilege concerning an alleged budget leak, ruling that the matter did not meet the criteria for privilege and the motion was too general.
March 21, 1978
While there are no previous precedents in any of the earlier practices of this House or of Westminster, and although this case involves an incident which took place beyond the precincts of...
The Speaker rules that electronic surveillance of a Member, even off-precinct, could constitute a contempt of the House by way of intimidation or obstruction.
February 22, 1978
Despite some doubt as to the application of the specific word "emergency", the Chair decided to give the benefit of doubt to the applicants and to allow the House to debate the matter. If one...
The Speaker granted an emergency debate by applying a lenient interpretation of the requirements under Standing Order 26.
February 13, 1978
Standing Order 26 ought not to be used to bring before the House matters which are considered crises of individual constituencies or industries. To do so would only invite the same kind of...
The Speaker denied an emergency debate application, ruling that the issue was a regional matter, not a national crisis.
December 5, 1977
Precedence and Sequence of Business / Private Members' Business, Notices of Motions December 5, 1977 Journals pp. 173-5 Debates pp. 1557-8 Background On November 7, Mr. Herbert (Vaudreuil) raised...
The text is a heading for the section on notices of motions within Private Members' Business.
December 5, 1977
On close technical grounds the motion can be ruled unacceptable because it is too general to qualify as a question of privilege. Members did not consider carefully enough that the judge's comments...
The Speaker denies a question of privilege concerning a judge's comments, ruling the motion too general and the comments outside the scope of parliamentary privilege.
October 31, 1977
A key concept in considering a motion moved under Standing Order 26 is that of emergency which can apply to a sudden occurrence or an unexpected event. It can apply also to "the sudden and...
The Speaker rules that the sub judice convention does not apply to an investigatory commission, thus permitting an emergency debate on the matter.
June 28, 1977
The amendment motion is unacceptable because it attempts to amend two sections of an Act which are not mentioned in the bill to which the motion is directed, and thus it goes beyond the scope of...
The Speaker permitted an amendment that was beyond the scope of a bill due to its minor impact and the House's unanimous consent.
June 27, 1977
The provisions of the motion endeavor to enlarge the scope of the measure by describing how the House is to examine the reports of the Auditor General. By providing for the composition of a...
The Speaker ruled an amendment inadmissible because it went beyond the scope of the bill by attempting to alter committee rules and the Standing Orders.