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October 11, 1979
The Speaker: On June 1, 1994, the honourable member for Winnipeg—Transcona raised a point of order concerning the designation of party status for members of the New Democratic Party. I would like...
The Speaker ruled that the House, not the Chair, must decide on granting official party status, but used his discretion to seat the NDP caucus together on the seating plan.
November 9, 1978
Content of Bills / Infringing on Financial Initiative of the Crown November 9, 1978 Journals pp. 130-3 Debates pp. 975-7 Background As the House was about to proceed to the second reading...
The Speaker ruled a private Member's bill out of order for infringing on the financial initiative of the Crown by proposing spending without a Royal Recommendation.
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.
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 23, 1977
The premature publication of this document interferes with the work of the Members in their committee because it "prejudices the secure identity of witnesses and people who co-operated with the...
The Speaker rules that the systemic issue of premature publication of committee documents should be studied by a special committee rather than being treated as an absolute question of privilege in every instance.
May 11, 1977
The practice in respect of dividing substantive motions has never been extended to bills. The Speaker agrees that a Member ought to have the right to compel the House to vote on each separate...
The Speaker rules that bills cannot be divided for voting, but Members can use a motion to delete under S.O. 75(5) to achieve separate votes on specific clauses.
November 16, 1974
The precedents "tend to establish in the main that statements made outside the House, or documents published elsewhere, ought not to be used for the purpose of questioning statements made in this...
The Speaker rules that disputes over facts or statements made outside Parliament are matters for debate, not questions of privilege.
May 8, 1974
As has been stated on many occasions in the past, "it might be very unwise for the House to decide that proceedings in one committee be investigated by another committee". It is not procedurally...
The Speaker rules that committee proceedings can only be brought to the House via a formal report and takes the question of a committee's power to compel documents under advisement.
April 1, 1974
Rules of Debate / Relevance April 1, 1974 Debates p. 1039 Background During report stage consideration of Bill C-5, an Act to authorize the provision of moneys to meet certain capital expenditures...
The provided text 'Report stage' is a procedural label indicating a stage of the legislative process, not a Speaker's Ruling.
July 13, 1973
Motions proposed to the House under Standing Order 43 are subject to the rules that apply generally to motions, and cannot be drafted in such a way as to imply a charge by innuendo. The use of...
The Speaker rules that motions under Standing Order 43 cannot use innuendo to make charges due to the immediate unanimous consent requirement.