Search thousands of Speaker's rulings with AI-powered precision.
December 7, 1987
Mr. Speaker: I do not think a supplementary would be appropriate at this time, but I want to say something not only to honourable Members but also to the public. The questions put by the...
The Speaker explains that questions about a civil case were allowed during Question Period because the sub judice convention does not apply before a trial starts and the questions were carefully phrased.
October 6, 1987
The Speaker: It might be helpful, especially to the public which is listening and watching, if I commented on the intervention of the honourable Member for Ottawa—Vanier, which I think was quite...
The Speaker explains that while the government can change the daily schedule, this is difficult for Members who have significant work obligations in committees and for constituents outside the Chamber.
September 29, 1987
The Speaker: Honourable Members will recall that several months ago, there was some discussion about altering the form of Routine Proceedings by eliminating the necessity under Motions and Bills...
The Speaker implements a new, more efficient procedure for Routine Proceedings by no longer reading the entire list of names from the Order Paper for motions and bills.
June 27, 1986
By virtue of the Standing Orders, the House has made a continuing order for the return of requested responses and has further ordered that such an order for return should survive prorogation....
This ruling clarifies that government obligations to respond to orders for return and petitions are not cancelled by parliamentary prorogation.
May 13, 1986
By precedent a committee may present a separate report containing that part of the main report to which it wishes a response. Where a committee requests instead a response to a particular part of...
This ruling clarifies that the government is only obligated to respond to the specific parts of a committee report for which a response has been requested.
May 8, 1986
Questions to a Minister must involve ministerial responsibility in some way. It follows that questions of a purely personal nature are out of order. The borderline between what is personal and...
A ruling clarifying that Oral Questions must pertain to ministerial responsibility and the government decides which minister answers.
January 27, 1986
The Speaker reminded the House of the guidelines established in 1977 by a committee of the House. The committee stated that a Member calling for the suppression of a matter because it is sub...
The Speaker clarifies that invoking the sub judice convention requires a Member to demonstrate a real risk of prejudice before the Chair will intervene.
May 14, 1984
The nature of the bill in question is that of a Bill of Attainder, a type of bill which was at one time employed in the British Parliament as "the highest form of parliamentary jurisprudence." It...
The Speaker explains that a Bill of Attainder is an obsolete British parliamentary procedure with no precedent in Canadian practice.
May 9, 1984
Beauchesne's Fifth Edition, Citation 371, reads in part, "The extent to which supplementary questions may be asked is in the discretion of the Speaker." The Chair is attempting in Question Period...
The Speaker clarifies that supplementary questions during Question Period must be genuinely supplementary and not new questions directed at different ministers.
April 6, 1984
There have been a number of occasions when it has been brought to the Speaker's attention that the Standing Order precludes attacks on Members of this House and of the other place, which is part...
The Speaker reminds Members that statements under the Standing Orders are not to be used for personal attacks and will enforce this interpretation.