Ruling
February 7, 1973
Notices of opposition
Hon. Lucien Lamoureux
Speaker of the House
Ruling Text
Although the form of the notices is not the main issue, Members should present them in the form of notices of opposition instead of motions or amendments as such. "... until now... notices have been considered and a vote taken on the item opposed only at the very last moment when the guillotine came into play at the end of the period... Actually there is nothing to prevent the House from considering these motions" well before the last moment of an allotted day, As for the argument that the House might be called upon to vote twice on the same question, "no objection can be taken to an amendment on any particular stage on the ground that it raises again a question decided at an earlier stage". The new Standing Orders were intended to allow the House to consider Supply either on an allotted day or a government day when the Government feels there is an urgent need and asks the House to consider a particular question during the time set aside for the Government. "The interpretation of [Standing Order 58(18)] must be that in certain circumstances, consideration of Supply must take place on government time rather than on allotted days... The proceedings are identical, except that opposition days cannot be used for the business of Supply when the Government brings forward Supply outside the cycle contemplated by the Standing Order. Except for the time allocation provisions of the Standing Order and the use of certain days by the Opposition, the same machinery must apply in both cases."
Edit Metadata
Holding
"Notices of opposition to Supply can be considered before the final 'guillotine' on an allotted day, and the procedural rules for considering Supply are the same whether on a government day or an opposition day, with the exception of time allocation rules specific to opposition days."
AI Summary
The Speaker clarifies that notices of opposition to Supply can be dealt with before the final 'guillotine' and explains the procedural similarities for considering Supply on government versus opposition days.
AI Analysis
- Outcome
- Other
- Tone
- Educational
- Procedural Stage
- Government Orders
- Significance
Low
High