Ruling
April 10, 1973
Committee report
Hon. Lucien Lamoureux
Speaker of the House
Ruling Text
It is a fundamental principle of the parliamentary system that financial initiative belongs to the Crown. A long-established practice of this House is that committee recommendations requiring expenditure of money include the traditional words that the Government give consideration to the advisability of spending moneys. There is only one recent precedent cited contrary to this practice, but on that occasion the report was concurred in by unanimous consent.
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Holding
"Committee reports cannot directly recommend the expenditure of public funds; they must use phrasing that asks the government to 'give consideration to the advisability' of such spending to respect the financial initiative of the Crown."
AI Summary
The Speaker rules that committee reports cannot directly mandate government spending and must use specific wording to respect the financial initiative of the Crown.
AI Analysis
- Outcome
- Sustained
- Tone
- Educational
- Procedural Stage
- Routine Proceedings
- Significance
Low
High