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July 15, 1980
"An Honorable Member should not be required to submit his conduct for investigation by the House or a committee thereof until he has been charged with an offence by another Member." No specific...
The Speaker ruled that a formal charge and evidence are required before the House can investigate a Member's conduct.
November 30, 1979
The Chair has taken the position that ''where no charge has been laid against a Member and there does not appear to be the investigation of an actual offence against him, but rather an...
The Speaker asserts discretionary power to block the execution of a warrant in a Member's office if the Member is not the direct subject of a criminal investigation.
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.
October 7, 1970
The question of privilege seems to "have been raised prematurely in that the Standing Committee on Regional Development has not met for several months and will not meet again in this session. The...
The Speaker denied a question of privilege concerning a member's conduct, ruling it was premature and improperly framed as a general reflection rather than a specific charge.
June 8, 1970
The intent of the proposed question is to confirm a deliberate deception by a Member or Members. In accordance with previous rulings, however, no Member should have to submit to an investigation...
The Speaker denied a question of privilege concerning deliberate deception because a specific charge is required for an investigation, and a mere dispute over facts is insufficient.
February 22, 1968
The claim that the words "manufactured crisis" or "trickery" are in themselves libellous or slanderous cannot be accepted. "The fact that a statement is untrue does not necessarily form the basis...
The Speaker ruled that the terms 'manufactured crisis' and 'trickery' were not a prima facie breach of privilege as they were used generally and not as a personal attack.
October 18, 1966
The Chair must rule on two points in the case. First, the motion goes beyond the scope of the limited question of privilege raised by Mr. Nugent and revives a point concerning the fact of the...
The Chair denied a question of privilege, ruling the motion was improperly substantive and the minister's words did not meet the prima facie threshold for a breach.