Ruling
March 21, 2013
Relevance: debate at report stage
Hon. Andrew Scheer
Speaker of the House
Ruling Text
The Acting Speaker:
The Chair thanks the hon.
Member for Selkirk—Interlake for his intervention and the Members for St. John's East and Saanich—Gulf Islands for their subsequent interventions.
In terms of general context, the hon.
Member for Selkirk—Interlake is correct that the Standing Orders state that when Members rise to speak to a matter before the House, their comments ought to be relevant to that matter.
It is also fair to say that historically and consistently the Chair has granted what some would consider significant latitude to Members in the points they make in their presentations. From time to time, Members take very indirect ways to come to their point. It is a good reminder for all Members that they need to keep their comments relevant to the matter before the House.
On the second point, the hon.
Member is technically correct in that the parameters or leeway granted ought to be narrower when the House is considering amendments as opposed to general legislation potentially during second reading or third reading. However, once again I would suggest the Chair recognizes that in the course of a 10- or 20-minute speech, hon.
Members need to provide context to the comments they wish to make that are relevant to a matter before the House.
As an editorial comment, there are certainly times when Members wander far afield from the matter before the House and are possibly beyond the grey area. However, in this case, I would suggest that has not happened. The hon.
Member for St. John's East is certainly talking in the context of the Bill. I trust that before his 10 minutes expires, he will make all of the context relevant to the points that have to do with the amendments currently being debated.
The Chair did not return to the House to announce any changes to the manner in which it would deal with matters of repetition or relevance.
Edit Metadata
Holding
"While comments should be relevant, especially when debating amendments, the Member has not strayed beyond the acceptable latitude granted to provide context, and the Chair will not intervene."
AI Summary
The Speaker denied a point of order on relevance, affirming the tradition of granting Members latitude in their speeches during debate.
AI Analysis
- Outcome
- Denied
- Tone
- Educational
- Procedural Stage
- Debate at report stage
- Significance
Low
High