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October 29, 1980
To amount to contempt, statements relating to proceedings of the House or the participation of Members should not only be erroneous, but rather they should be deliberately incorrect and improper...
A ruling clarifying that for a statement about House proceedings to be considered contempt, it must be deliberately false and deceitful, not just incorrect.
October 29, 1980
Certain interventions touching upon Members' privileges of freedom of speech and liable to influence Members in the exercise of their duties, such as editorials and other public comment, do not...
The Speaker ruled that a government advertising campaign did not constitute a breach of privilege as pressure from an outside body is not, in itself, interference with parliamentary proceedings.
October 24, 1980
All Members have the right to speak and the Standing Orders are specifically designed so as to enable them to express themselves. Moreover, the provisions of the Standing Orders were adopted by...
The Speaker ruled that a closure motion adopted by the House must be enforced, thereby ending the debate and overriding an individual Member's right to speak.
October 23, 1980
The amendment seeks to change the powers of the committee in a way which is not contemplated by the Standing Orders or practices of the House. Besides, the presentation of minority reports is not...
The Speaker ruled an amendment inadmissible as it was beyond the scope of the motion and improperly sought to alter Standing Orders and committee practices.
October 17, 1980
The Member has the right to express his disagreement following the Minister's decision, and this very important question of principle certainly deserves to be debated. However, there is no...
The Speaker ruled that a Minister's non-disclosure of public opinion polls did not constitute a prima facie breach of privilege.
October 17, 1980
It cannot be said that the Government's spending impedes the House or the Members in the fulfillment of their duties. The fact that certain Members feel that they are disadvantaged by not having...
The Speaker denied a question of privilege, ruling that government advertising spending does not impede the work of Members or the House.
October 14, 1980
Because the House has already voted on this piece of legislation, the Member may not propose a motion reaffirming approval of the legislation but disagreeing with one of its provisions.
A motion is ruled out of order because it seeks to revisit a question already decided by the House.
October 10, 1980
In recent practices in the House of Commons, this expression has been allowed provided it was not qualified by the words "intentionally" or "deliberately".
A 1980 ruling permits the phrase 'misleading the House' but prohibits adding qualifiers like 'intentionally' that impute motive.
July 21, 1980
The proposed amendment raises a question completely foreign to the one contained in the main motion. Since it involves an amendment which represents a new proposition of a substantive nature,...
The Speaker ruled an amendment out of order because it introduced a new substantive topic beyond the scope of the main motion, which requires notice.
July 15, 1980
"An Honorable Member should not be required to submit his conduct for investigation by the House or a committee thereof until he has been charged with an offence by another Member." No specific...
The Speaker ruled that a formal charge and evidence are required before the House can investigate a Member's conduct.