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December 20, 1983
A motion to adjourn the House "is not in order since the House is operating under an order which stipulates that all votes pertaining to certain questions should be put at six o'clock".......
A Speaker's ruling clarifies that a motion to adjourn is out of order when a special order for a scheduled vote is in effect, as only a Minister can move adjournment in that situation.
October 19, 1983
Ministers have never been forbidden to give notice on a point of order. The only restriction imposed on a Minister in such a case is that he or she must speak from his or her place at a previous sitting.
The Speaker clarifies that Ministers can give notice on a point of order if they have previously spoken from their seat.
October 13, 1983
The motion seeks to introduce a preamble in disguised form. Even if the motion does not include the usual "whereases", it is aimed at importing a preamble. A Member cannot do indirectly what he is...
The Speaker ruled a motion out of order as it was an improper attempt to indirectly introduce a preamble.
June 20, 1983
The problem of a complicated question refers to motions not bills; there is no procedural reason to divide the bill. Although some occupants of the Chair have expressed concern about the practice...
The Speaker ruled that an omnibus bill cannot be divided on the grounds of being a 'complicated question' as that principle applies only to motions.
May 25, 1983
The Standing Orders do not stipulate that a motion of this kind may be moved only when there is debate; nor do they suggest that this type of motion may not be moved at some other time. It cannot...
The Speaker ruled that a motion to proceed to the Orders of the Day is procedurally acceptable and does not infringe upon the right to present petitions.
February 28, 1983
As difficult as the Chair finds it not to allow a Member to respond to an accusation, a question addressed to a Minister must deal with a matter that falls within his current responsibilities, and...
The Speaker ruled that questions to ministers must concern their current portfolio responsibilities, not those from a previous one.
February 24, 1983
According to one authority, a written or oral question, must not anticipate an Order of the Day. "There are precedents that support the raising of such questions and other precedents that do not,...
The Speaker allowed a question that anticipated an Order of the Day, citing conflicting precedents but deferring to the general practice of the House.
January 25, 1983
The Standing Orders do not require that the seconder be a Minister of the Crown. Only a Minister may move a Government motion, but any Member may second such a motion. The motion is thus in order...
The Speaker ruled that any Member, not just a Minister, is permitted to second a Government motion.
December 16, 1982
A point of order must be raised as soon as possible when the House sits. However, the House had been adjourned until the next day, before the Speaker knew that the Member was trying to raise a...
A ruling clarifying that a point of order raised after the House has adjourned must be deferred to the next sitting if permission to hear it is refused.
June 16, 1982
It is unacceptable to the House of Commons that a Member accuse someone of having deliberately misled the House or the Canadian public. The expression does damage to the decorum of the House and...
The Speaker ruled that accusing a member of "deliberately misleading" the House is unparliamentary and requires an unconditional withdrawal.