Search thousands of Speaker's rulings with AI-powered precision.
April 17, 1980
The Prime Minister may table the letter if he wishes, but there is no obligation upon him to do so because it involves a letter which he did not actually quote but to which he merely referred.
A Speaker's ruling clarifies that a document only needs to be tabled if it is quoted from, not if it is merely referenced.
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.
February 13, 1979
Motions without Notice Proposed under Standing Order 43 / Application of the Rule February 13, 1979 Debates, pp. 3164-6 Background On October 26, 1978, Mr. Hnatyshyn (Saskatoon—Biggar) rose on a...
The provided text 'Application of the rule' is too short and incomplete to be analyzed as a Speaker's Ruling.
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.
November 9, 1978
The complaint was raised at the earliest opportunity. The letter from the Solicitor General to Mr. Lawrence can be considered a proceeding in Parliament for the purpose of privilege. A contempt...
The Speaker found a prima facie case of contempt, ruling that a minister's letter is a proceeding in Parliament and the sub judice convention does not apply to a Royal Commission.
December 5, 1977
On close technical grounds the motion can be ruled unacceptable because it is too general to qualify as a question of privilege. Members did not consider carefully enough that the judge's comments...
The Speaker denies a question of privilege concerning a judge's comments, ruling the motion too general and the comments outside the scope of parliamentary privilege.
June 28, 1977
The amendment motion is unacceptable because it attempts to amend two sections of an Act which are not mentioned in the bill to which the motion is directed, and thus it goes beyond the scope of...
The Speaker permitted an amendment that was beyond the scope of a bill due to its minor impact and the House's unanimous consent.
June 23, 1977
Amendments to the Content of Bills / Report Stage June 23, 1977 Journals pp. 1213-4 Debates pp. 7052-3 Background On June 21, during consideration at the report stage of Bill C-27, an Act to...
A ruling that amendments are out of order if they infringe upon the financial initiative of the Crown or exceed the scope of the clause being amended.
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.
June 23, 1977
In these situations, the practice of resorting to a question of privilege has become customary. It permits a Member to make what is essentially a personal statement under the umbrella of privilege...
The Speaker rules that personal attacks do not meet the threshold for a question of privilege unless they obstruct a Member's parliamentary duties.