On October 30, 2002, the hon. Minister of State and government House leader raised a point of order concerning the interpretation of Standing Order 81(14)(a), a provision adopted pursuant to the report of the Special Committee on Modernization.
Standing Order 81 (14) ( a ) reads as follows:
(14)(a) Written notice of an opposition motion on an allotted day shall be filed with the Clerk of the House not later than one hour prior to the opening of the sitting on the day preceding the allotted day, and the Speaker shall read the text of the motion at the opening of that sitting and shall indicate whether the motion is one that shall come to a vote pursuant to section (16) of this Standing Order.
The hon. government House leader contested the fact that the Speaker had read two notices of motion filed with the Clerk on the day preceding the allotted day scheduled for October 31. Let me now address those concerns.
While it is unusual for more than one notice of motion to be filed for debate on a supply day, the practice of submitting notice of more than one motion is certainly not without precedent.
In adopting the modernization committee report, the House appears to have opted for an orderliness and a certainty in its proceedings by requiring the Speaker, on the day before the debate is to take place, to inform the House of the text of the allotted day motion to be debated. The hon. government House leader argues that this would, in effect, prevent the Speaker from announcing notice of more than one motion.
The text of Standing Order 81(14)(a) refers to only one notice; however, our practice has never prevented consideration of more than one motion on an allotted day. I refer the House to the words of Mr. Speaker Fraser on December 7, 1989, in Hansard at page 6583-4:
According to our rules and practice, the purpose of notice is to give warning to the House of an item of business that might be raised for debate. The notice does not necessarily mean that the item will actually be debated or that it will be debated any time soon.
The Order Paper contains numerous items for which notice has been given but which have not yet been debated. The parliamentary secretary suggested that proceedings on supply days are different.
While I agree that certain aspects of supply have a character distinct from other proceedings, it seems to me that unless the rules on supply are explicit, the usual practices should be followed. This is the case with notice.
When the House adopted the modernization report, it seems to me that we took a step away from the situation described by Mr. Speaker Fraser. There is now an expressed desire to have some certainty about what is to be debated on an upcoming allotted day. But, while the House has taken one step in that direction, it has not actually decided to prohibit notice of more than one motion. This may be an area that requires a second look.
Therefore, for the present, the Chair will accept that the procedural requirements of Standing Order 81(14)(a) have been met provided that the notice or notices of motion are duly filed with the Clerk so the Speaker can properly inform the House of their filing on the day before the allotted day on which they will be debated. When Orders of the Day are reached on the allotted day, if more than one motion remains on notice, then the Speaker will have to determine which motion will be called for debate.
Finally, let me just say that I recognize and accept the wisdom of my predecessors in this House in refusing to speculate on hypothetical situations. However, for those who fear that this uncertainty might be exploited to mischievous ends, may I say that, taken together, our practice and our Standing Orders seem clear enough to permit the Chair to intervene without hesitation, in the highly unlikely event of an exaggerated number of notices being filed.
Meanwhile, if members feel that this is not satisfactory or that they wish to create greater certainty, the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs may wish to examine the matter further.