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November 6, 1980
Although it is legitimate for Members in this House to insist that Ministers answer their questions, Ministers are not bound to do so. "Minister may decline to answer a question without stating...
This ruling confirms the established principle that Ministers cannot be compelled to answer questions in the House.
October 24, 1980
All Members have the right to speak and the Standing Orders are specifically designed so as to enable them to express themselves. Moreover, the provisions of the Standing Orders were adopted by...
The Speaker ruled that a closure motion adopted by the House must be enforced, thereby ending the debate and overriding an individual Member's right to speak.
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.
October 14, 1980
Because the House has already voted on this piece of legislation, the Member may not propose a motion reaffirming approval of the legislation but disagreeing with one of its provisions.
A motion is ruled out of order because it seeks to revisit a question already decided by the House.
July 21, 1980
The proposed amendment raises a question completely foreign to the one contained in the main motion. Since it involves an amendment which represents a new proposition of a substantive nature,...
The Speaker ruled an amendment out of order because it introduced a new substantive topic beyond the scope of the main motion, which requires notice.
July 11, 1980
The parent act was in fact initiated by both a Ways and Means motion and notice of motion for introduction with an accompanying royal recommendation, although the provision of the parent act which...
The Speaker rules that the Chair cannot pronounce on the legality of a Minister's actions, only their procedural correctness under the Standing Orders.
July 11, 1980
The interventions heard during this debate on the alleged question of privilege clearly established that the question was in no way founded on a breach of our rules but rather one of the common...
The Speaker denied a question of privilege, confirming that a Minister's procedure for tabling a Ways and Means motion was in order and an accompanying statement was optional.
July 9, 1980
"Under almost no circumstances can a review of the law be regarded as an emergency provision rather than a continuing... concern of this House." In addition, since the matter was first raised...
A request for an emergency debate was denied as the issue was deemed an ongoing concern with other available avenues for debate, not a sudden crisis.
June 13, 1980
The rule the Chair follows is that all questions are legitimate unless they require very lengthy statistics. In that case they should be put on the Order Paper. It is not for the Chair "to judge...
The Speaker clarifies that while the content of answers in Question Period is not judged, their length will be managed to allow more Members to participate.
April 28, 1980
Even if the Member denounces the lack of debate on what he considers to be a budget presentation, the fact is that the Minister never stated that he was making a budget presentation. However, it...
The Speaker ruled that a Minister is permitted to table Ways and Means motions and discuss financial matters during the Address Debate.