Before we launch into orders of the day, I have a short ruling to make.
As hon. members know, the Chair has undertaken to ensure that pertinent procedural questions are resolved before the second reading debate on a private member's bill is concluded.
Therefore, before the debate begins on Bill C-286, An Act to amend the Witness Protection Program Act (protection of spouses whose life is in danger) and to make a consequential amendment to another Act, I must advise the House of a procedural difficulty which the bill poses for the Chair.
Hon. members may recall that I first raised this issue in the statement I made in the House on May 31st last concerning private members' business.
Careful examination of Bill C-286 indicates that clause 4 replaces sections 3 and 4 of the existing Witness Protection Program Act. It extends the application of the program to persons whose life is in danger because of acts committed against them by their spouse, a protection that does not currently exist under the witness protection program. In doing so, the bill proposes to carry out an entirely new function.
As a new function, such an activity is not covered by the terms of any existing appropriation. As the House knows, funds are approved by Parliament only for purposes covered by the accompanying royal recommendation, as explicitly stated in Standing Order 79(1). New functions or activities must be accompanied by a new royal recommendation.
Thus, the Chair has concluded that those provisions in clause 4 of the bill which relate to the expansion of the witness protection program require a royal recommendation.
I will therefore decline to put the question on third reading of this bill in its present form unless a royal recommendation has been received.
Today, however, the debate is on the motion for second and this motion shall be put to a vote at the close of the second reading debate.