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March 8, 1990
Mr. Speaker: On Monday, March 5, 1990, the honourable Member for Kamloops rose on a point of order to suggest that the debate on the budget be suspended and that the Chair review the Government...
The Speaker rules that the sub judice convention does not apply to bills, thereby allowing debate on government legislation to proceed despite a related matter being before the courts.
November 7, 1989
Mr. Speaker: The Chair would ask the indulgence of the House to render a decision on the matter raised yesterday by the honourable Member for York Centre relating to the Sub Judice convention. I...
The Speaker denied a request to ask questions about a matter before the courts, ruling that the sub judice convention applied because the issue was part of an active defense motion in a criminal trial.
October 10, 1989
The Speaker: I am now ready to rule on the question of privilege which was raised on September 25 by the right honourable Leader of the Opposition concerning the government advertisements which...
The Speaker ruled that a government advertisement for the GST was not a prima facie contempt of Parliament but strongly warned against repeating such actions.
May 19, 1989
The Speaker: On Tuesday, April 4, 1989, the honourable Member for Edmonton Southeast raised a question of privilege and, in addition, provided the Chair with certain related material. The facts...
The Speaker rules that parliamentary privilege does not protect MP-constituent communications and warns against waiving immunity or accepting subpoenas within parliamentary precincts.
May 2, 1989
The Speaker: I am now ready to rule on the arguments presented several days ago with respect to the Question of Privilege relating to the supply process. On April 6, after giving the Chair the...
The Speaker denied a question of privilege, ruling that the government's use of Special Warrants and omission of a supply request from the Throne Speech did not breach procedural rules.
August 16, 1988
The Speaker: Yesterday the honourable Minister of State (Treasury Board) gave oral notice of a motion for time allocation for the report stage and third reading stage of Bill C-130 the...
The Speaker ruled that a government notice for time allocation is valid even without specifying the time, and an agreement between opposition parties alone cannot block it.
February 18, 1987
Mr. Speaker: On February 11, 1987, the honourable Member for La Prairie raised a question of privilege with respect to the dismissal of an official at the Department of Employment and Immigration....
The Speaker ruled that the dismissal of a public servant for speaking with MPs did not constitute a breach of privilege as parliamentary privilege does not extend to public servants.
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.
March 16, 1972
No precedent permits the Chair to allow the submission of one or more minority reports. However, there is nothing in the precedents that forbids the inclusion in a committee report of dissident or...
The Speaker rules that separate minority reports from committees are not permitted, but dissident opinions can be included within the main report.
April 19, 1971
The cause of the Chair's reservations is a previous ruling that "under our Standing Orders there is no authority for seeking from the Government the tabling and the submission of such documents......
The Speaker warns that allowing the government to table documents not explicitly covered by the Standing Orders creates a binding precedent for all Members.