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March 19, 1987
The Speaker: Perhaps the Chair could assist honourable Members. What has happened here is that pursuant to the Standing Orders, the honourable Member for Calgary West, as Chairman of the...
The Speaker ruled that Standing Orders only permit the committee chair to give a succinct explanation when tabling a report, and opposition members cannot comment without unanimous consent.
May 29, 1984
Rules of Debate - Order and Decorum / Miscellaneous May 29, 1984 Debates pp. 4175-6 Background When the House proceeded to the consideration of Private Members' Business, Mr. Baker...
The Speaker ruled a motion out of order as it violated the 'same question' rule by being substantially similar to a bill already decided in the same session.
October 24, 1973
A petition must relate to a matter over which Parliament has control. In a recent precedent, a matter which had, by statute, been allocated to a public corporation was judged to be beyond the...
The Speaker ruled a petition inadmissible because its subject matter was under the jurisdiction of the CRTC, a body to which Parliament has delegated authority.
September 13, 1973
Despite some hesitation to put a motion founded primarily on the regular monthly reports of Statistics Canada, there are in this instance special circumstances to justify an emergency debate which...
The Speaker granted a request for an emergency debate based on a Statistics Canada report, citing special circumstances.
June 7, 1972
Although the right to petition the House of Commons is fundamental, there is a precedent to the effect that the House will not receive a petition dealing with a matter that falls within the...
The Speaker ruled a petition inadmissible because it was outside the House's jurisdiction and contained improper charges.
May 14, 1971
An attempt to amend part of a bill anticipates the committee or report stage. A proper amendment at this stage would be either a six-month hoist or a reasoned amendment. Being neither, but a...
The Speaker ruled an amendment out of order because it improperly targeted a specific clause at second reading instead of the bill's principle.
July 21, 1969
The Chair refused similar proposals in the last week because there had been debate which in some ways related closely to the subject-matter of the motions. This motion, however, refers to a very...
The Speaker grants a request for an emergency debate due to the introduction of a new and important factor.
January 16, 1969
Among the conditions to be met in moving the adjournment of the House under Standing Order 26, both in its new and old forms, is that the subject-matter "must relate to a genuine emergency calling...
The Speaker denied a request for an emergency debate on unemployment, ruling that the ongoing nature of the issue does not meet the 'suddenness' criterion required by Standing Order 26.
October 25, 1968
"... as a matter of special importance and immediate urgency the whole of the Nigeria and Biafra situation has been referred by this House to a special committee." Normally, the Chair would not...
The Speaker denied a request for an emergency debate on the Nigeria/Biafra situation because the matter was already being studied by a special committee.
October 21, 1968
The proposed amendment does not oppose the principle of the bill but merely postpones consideration of the bill until a certain condition is met. Further, there is a substantial difference between...
This ruling clarifies that an amendment is procedurally acceptable if it postpones a bill's consideration based on a condition, rather than opposing its core principle.