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October 20, 1970
Since the Chair did not have the opportunity to examine each bill in detail, it is suggested that the House follow the procedure agreed upon in several recent sessions: by unanimous consent, all...
The Speaker outlines a process to grant private Members' bills first reading by consent while deferring scrutiny of procedural defects until before second reading.
June 8, 1970
Since government business has already been set aside to discuss a supply motion, it would be difficult to pre-empt consideration of the supply motion in favour of a motion for an emergency debate...
The Speaker denied a request for an emergency debate, ruling that it could not preempt a scheduled supply day and was substantively a non-confidence motion.
May 4, 1970
"... the only way in which the Standing Order can be operated so as to work and make sense is to have agreement between... representatives of the parties in the House." In this instance, there has...
The Speaker permitted a vaguely worded supply day motion to proceed as a non-confidence vote but warned that future motions must more clearly express non-confidence.
March 3, 1970
Reasoned amendments must be strictly relevant to the bill before the House. Although it is not completely clear that the amendment is relevant to the principle of the bill, it will be given the...
The Speaker allowed a reasoned amendment of questionable relevance to proceed, giving Members the benefit of the doubt.
February 25, 1970
The return presented is obviously not in the conventional or traditional form. If a return is to be of any value to a Member it should be presented in a form that will convey to the Member the...
The Speaker ruled that tabling documents on microfilm is improper as returns must be presented in a form that is immediately interpretable without a mechanical device.
November 12, 1969
A provision in the bill "cannot be construed in any manner except as an amendment to Appropriation Acts, past and future, and bestows the Governor in Council power to dispose of moneys in a manner...
The Speaker ruled a Senate bill inadmissible for infringing on the House of Commons' financial privileges by attempting to amend Appropriation Acts.
July 3, 1969
Arguments raised against the Government's motion are founded largely on the rule of anticipation. Unfortunately, Canadian precedents concerning this rule are not sufficiently clear and British...
The Speaker ruled that the rule of anticipation applies to the debate of a matter, not its placement on the Order Paper, thus allowing a government motion to proceed.
March 31, 1969
The established form of a committee recommendation dealing with legislative proposals is that the Government take into consideration the advisability of introducing legislation for a specified...
A Speaker's ruling clarifies that minor formal errors in a committee report may be overlooked, while substantive and constitutional arguments are matters for the House to decide, not the Chair.
March 3, 1969
"... it is the duty of the Chair to decide which [opposition] motion will have precedence at this sitting. The two opposition motions set down for consideration... are almost identical......
The Speaker rules that when two nearly identical opposition motions are submitted, only one will be selected for debate to maintain consistency with House practice.
December 10, 1968
While most major revisions of House rules have been considered in Committee of the Whole, there have been, in fact, a number of occasions when this has not happened. Rule changes can be adopted...
The Speaker clarifies they lack the authority to force the House to consider rule changes in a Committee of the Whole.