Ruling
December 10, 1973
Legislative item
Hon. Lucien Lamoureux
Speaker of the House
Ruling Text
The House should "reaffirm the proposition that such proposals, when they are clearly intended to amend existing legislation, should come to the House by way of an amending bill rather than as an item in the Supplementary Estimates". The use of dollar items in the Estimates as a means of legislation "ought not to be condoned and supported by the House". Dollar items, however, have been used to amend a previous Appropriation Act. If a justification were to be made for the use of dollar items relating to legislation, "it would have to be based on emergency rather than on principle", but the Chair, in this case, has to make a ruling on principle.
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Holding
"Using dollar items in the Estimates as a means to amend existing legislation is procedurally out of order; such changes must be made via a proper amending bill."
AI Summary
This ruling establishes that using dollar items in the Estimates to amend legislation is procedurally improper and requires a separate amending bill.
AI Analysis
- Outcome
- Sustained
- Tone
- Educational
- Procedural Stage
- Government Orders
- Significance
Low
High