Colleagues, I am now prepared to make a ruling on the admissibility of the amendment, moved last Wednesday, November 29, by the hon. member for Calgary Southwest, to government business Motion No. 26 relating to Quebec as a distinct society.
I have reviewed the interventions of the chief government whip, the chief opposition whip and the hon. member for Calgary West, and I would like to thank them for their helpful comments.
Bourinot's Parliamentary Procedure and Practice in the Dominion of Canada , fourth edition, at page 321 states:
It is an imperative rule that every amendment must be relevant to the question on which the amendment has been proposed.
This idea is also repeated as citation 568 in Beauchesne's sixth edition. Beauchesne also notes in citation 567 that
567.-the object of an amendment may be-to modify a question in such a way as to increase its acceptability-
In his presentation the chief government whip quoted citation 579 of the same work, arguing that the proposed amendment would introduce a foreign proposition and would raise a new question which could only be considered as a distinct motion after proper notice. He also referred to the 1923 and 1970 Speaker's rulings on which this citation is based. I have reviewed these decisions, and while it is indisputable that these are accurate references, they are not germane to the case now before us.
The Chair has reviewed the terms of the main motion and has taken into account the nature of its wording. The wording of the proposed amendment is linked directly to the text of the main motion and touches on various concepts found therein. It appears to the Chair that the proposed amendment does not stray beyond the scope of the main motion but rather aims to further refine its meaning and intent.
Thus the Chair is of the opinion that the requirements for amendments outlined in Beauchesne's citations 567 and 568 have been met.
I therefore rule that the amendment is procedurally acceptable and will be proposed by the Chair when next this government order is called.