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November 3, 1982
Amendments to the Content of Bills / Committee Stage November 3, 1982 Debates pp. 20366-70 Background During consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bill C-137, An Act to provide for the...
A description of the parliamentary procedure for amending a bill by deleting and substituting a clause during committee stage.
December 16, 1981
Parliamentary practice holds that a petition may only be read with the unanimous consent of the House. If the House declines to give unanimous consent to the reading of a petition, it is hard to...
The Speaker clarifies that if unanimous consent to read a petition is denied, consent cannot then be sought to refer it to a committee.
July 13, 1981
Where a bill, as introduced, does not contain a preamble, it is not competent for a committee to introduce one. The same rules apply at report stage. As for the headings of the various parts of a...
This ruling establishes that committees cannot add a preamble to a bill if one was not present at introduction, nor can they amend bill headings.
November 6, 1980
The original resolution of the House respecting the introduction of television states that the House approves the radio and television broadcasting of its proceedings and of the proceedings of its...
The Speaker ruled that parliamentary committees cannot broadcast their proceedings without first receiving explicit authorization from the House of Commons.
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.
June 17, 1980
There is nothing to suggest that the letter being circulated among the various branches impeded Members in the normal performance of their duties in the House, or that the information collected...
The Speaker denied a question of privilege, finding no evidence that a bank's letter requesting information on MPs impeded their parliamentary duties.
May 13, 1977
Amendments and Subamendments to Motions / Amendment Beyond Scope of Motion May 13, 1977 Journals pp. 794-6 Debates pp. 5650-1 Background During debate on a Supply Day motion proposed by Mr....
The Speaker ruled an amendment out of order because it was not relevant to and went beyond the scope of the original motion.
April 6, 1976
"Standing committees are and must remain the masters of their own procedure". For many years in this House the Chair has refrained from sitting in appeal on procedural decisions taken in standing...
The Speaker affirms the principle that standing committees control their own procedures and the Chair will not hear appeals from their decisions.
June 4, 1975
The strict definition of parliamentary privilege should not be expanded to include controversies as to facts, opinions or conclusions. These are matters for debate; they are not questions of...
This ruling establishes that disagreements over facts are matters for debate, not privilege, and that a specific charge is required to raise a question of privilege against a Member.
April 10, 1974
There should be no attempt to clarify a ruling which was made on another occasion because that would not be according to well-established practice. The matter will be allowed to stand where it is...
The Speaker denies a request to clarify a previous ruling, citing established practice and closing further debate on the matter.