Ruling
February 27, 1975
Reflections upon the House
Hon. James Jerome
Speaker of the House
Ruling Text
There is nothing either in the precedents or the Standing Orders which bears directly on the point of a Member of this House voluntarily appearing before a Senate committee. The Chair can find no authority whereby it "could prevent such a thing being done by a Member of this Chamber." However, Members who choose to appear must be very careful because "they are putting themselves in a situation where they are inviting a breach of Standing Order 35 which prohibits comments or reflections upon decisions of this House by Members of this House and they are inviting potentially grave affronts to Parliament."
Edit Metadata
Holding
"A Member of the House is not prohibited from appearing before a Senate committee, but is warned not to make any comments or reflections upon decisions of the House while doing so."
AI Summary
The Speaker ruled that while Members can appear before Senate committees, they are strictly warned not to reflect on or criticize decisions made by the House of Commons.
AI Analysis
- Outcome
- Other
- Tone
- Educational
- Significance
Low
High