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October 22, 1975
Although "the House guards the confidentiality of draft reports at this stage of a committee's proceedings and the publication of such a report would raise the strongest suggestion that some act...
The Speaker denied a motion for one committee to investigate a joint committee's leaked report, ruling it procedurally irregular and lacking a specific allegation of misconduct.
July 25, 1975
The motions asking for a general investigation under the terms of a specialized motion of privilege Jack sufficient merit to be given precedence over other motions; there is nothing to prevent...
The Speaker found a prima facie case of privilege in a specific motion concerning false accusations against a Member, while denying precedence to a more general motion.
December 19, 1974
"[T]he allegations relate to the relationship between the Members of this House and the members of the press gallery here... [and since] to a certain extent the press gallery is an extension of...
The Speaker finds a prima facie case of privilege concerning allegations involving MPs and the press gallery, viewing the gallery as an extension of the House's function.
March 21, 1974
"The Speaker has no other responsibility than determining whether there is a prima facie question of privilege which later on could be submitted to the House in the form of a motion." The present...
The Speaker denies a prima facie question of privilege, ruling the issue is a grievance to be addressed through other parliamentary avenues.
September 6, 1973
The motion asks the House to censure a Member for a statement made outside the House; the purport of such a motion does not allow the Speaker to find a prima facie case of privilege. "It is a...
A ruling clarifying that the prohibition on commenting on committee work before a report is tabled applies only to statements made inside the House, not outside.
September 4, 1973
There is no doubt that Members should not be placed in a position where, in their absence from their offices, representatives of the police without any authority could enter the offices and...
In a landmark 1973 ruling, the Speaker established that unauthorized police entry into an MP's office constitutes a prima facie breach of parliamentary privilege.
March 2, 1973
The actual words used in the newspaper article are "purveyor of hatred against the Government". This puts a somewhat different slant on the news story, and on the offending statement itself. It is...
The Speaker denied a question of privilege, ruling that a public servant's derogatory remarks about a Member were improper but not a prima facie breach.
May 16, 1972
There is little reason for the statements or conduct of a Member to be referred to a committee for scrutiny. A charge must be made in specific terms before a prima facie case of privilege is...
The Speaker ruled that a motion regarding another member's statements was a matter for debate, not a question of privilege, because it lacked a specific charge.
March 16, 1972
A matter of this kind cannot be brought before the House byway of a breach of parliamentary privilege. It is doubtful that the Member can successfully claim that his parliamentary privileges have...
The Speaker denied a Member's question of privilege, ruling it was a substantive motion improperly framed as a breach of privilege.
December 30, 1971
There is nothing to suggest in the Member's charge that 'there has been a prima facie breach of the rights and immunities of Members of the House of Commons". The Chair, in effect, has been asked...
The Speaker denied a question of privilege, ruling that the complaint about government administrative actions was a legal issue, not a breach of members' rights.