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October 12, 1983
Members who participate in a public debate outside the House enjoy no special protection. Privilege can only be claimed in relation to a parliamentary proceeding. Privilege is not designed to...
A Speaker's ruling clarifies that parliamentary privilege does not protect Members from criticism arising from activities outside of official parliamentary proceedings.
April 26, 1983
Various precedents indicate that charges of this kind cannot be made by way of a question of privilege, but only on a substantive motion making clear and specific accusations. While there may have...
Speaker rules that serious accusations must be made via a substantive motion, not a question of privilege, and finds no procedural error in the tabling of budget documents.
April 19, 1983
According to the practice whereby the Minister of Finance presents his budget in the House before declaring it in any other public forum, budget secrecy is a political convention which does not...
This ruling establishes that budget secrecy is a political convention, not a matter of privilege, and any accusation of its breach requires a substantive motion.
March 24, 1983
The aim in reading these documents is to give sufficient information to the Chair and to the House upon which to make a decision. If the information transmitted during interventions is sufficient,...
A ruling clarifying that for a question of privilege, a summary of supporting documents is sufficient and the entire matter, not just the documents, is what is referred to committee.
March 22, 1983
Not only do defamatory allegations about Members place the entire institution of Parliament under a cloud, they also prevent Members from performing their duties as long as the matter remains...
A Speaker's ruling confirms that defamatory allegations against a Member can be referred to a committee despite the sub judice convention to protect the Member's ability to function.
February 28, 1983
For there to be a prima facie case of privilege, sufficient evidence must be presented to warrant the matter proceeding to investigation. Furthermore, it is not for the Chair to determine whether...
The Speaker clarifies that the Chair does not rule on the accuracy of tabled documents and that reflections on Members require a substantive motion.
June 16, 1982
Any word that is a synonym of a word that is unparliamentary cannot be substituted for the unparliamentary expression, and from now on the word "mendacity" will be considered unparliamentary as...
The Speaker ruled that using synonyms for unparliamentary words, such as 'mendacity' for lying, is also unparliamentary and must be challenged via a point of order.
June 16, 1982
Rules of Debate / Unparliamentary Language June 16, 1982 Debates pp. 18527-8 Background During the introduction of an opposition motion dealing with supply, Mr. Chretien (Minister of Justice)...
This entry pertains to the procedural concept of personal attacks and the associated right of reply, but is not a specific ruling.
May 31, 1982
According to one authority, expressions which are unparliamentary when applied to individual Members are not always so considered when applied to a whole party. Moreover, since the Standing Orders...
This ruling clarifies that unparliamentary language is a matter to be raised on a point of order, not as a question of privilege.
May 27, 1982
The question was raised at the earliest opportunity, but the Minister denies having deliberately misled the House. As it is customary to accept a Member's statement, the matter cannot be dealt...
The Speaker denied a question of privilege concerning a Minister allegedly misleading the House, as the Minister's denial of intent must be accepted.