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A Member launches the process of debate in the Chamber by moving (i.e., proposing) a motion. Where notice of a motion has been given, the Speaker will first ensure that the Member wishes to proceed with the moving of the motion. If the sponsor of a motion chooses not to proceed (either by not being present[214] or by being present but declining to move the motion), then the motion is not proceeded with and is dropped from the Order Paper, unless allowed to stand at the request of the government.[215] If the sponsor wishes to proceed and nods in agreement, the Speaker then ascertains whether there is a seconder. All motions in the House require a seconder;[216] if none is found, the Speaker will not propose the question to the House and no entry will appear in the Journals as the House is not in possession of it.[217] Any Member may act as a seconder, even for government motions which may be moved only by Ministers.[218] If the seconder should cease to be a Member of the House after the motion has been duly proposed, the motion remains in order.[219] Once a motion is moved and seconded, it is still not properly before the House―that is, it may not be debated―until it has been proposed, i.e., read out from the Chair.[220] The moving of a motion which does not require notice typically ends the speech in which it is included.[221] Before recognizing another Member on debate, the Speaker first asks if there is a seconder for the motion. If there is a seconder, and after the motion is received in writing and found procedurally in order, the Speaker then reads it out from the Chair, thus proposing the motion to the House. The requirement that a motion be in writing applies to all motions, whether or not they require notice, as well as to amendments and subamendments, both in the House and its committees. In the House, when notice of a motion has been given, the requirement that it be in writing is automatically met since the text of the motion appears on the Order Paper. In all other instances in which the motion does not appear on the Order Paper or has not been published and distributed to Members, the Speaker must receive a written copy of the motion before proposing it to the House prior to debate. The Member will also append his or her signature to the text of the motion. Before reading a motion to the House, it is the Speaker’s duty to ensure that it is procedurally in order. This is done by verifying that the notice requirement (if any) was satisfied; that the wording of the motion corresponds to that of the notice; and that the motion contains no objectionable or irregular wording. Any part of a motion found out of order will render the whole motion out of order.[222] If the Chair finds the form of the motion to be irregular, he or she has the authority to modify it in order to ensure that it conforms to the usage of the House.[223] This is usually done with the concurrence of the mover.[224] If a motion is ruled out of order, a Member may move it again after the necessary corrections have been made and the notice requirements satisfied; it is then treated as a new motion. In ruling a motion out of order, the Speaker informs the House of the reasons and cites the Standing Order or authority applicable to the case.[225] The motion is not proposed to the House and is dropped from the Order Paper. If the motion is found to be in order, and has been moved and seconded, the Speaker proposes it to the House. Once the Speaker has read the motion in the words of its mover, it is considered to be before the House. Every motion found to be in order and proposed from the Chair is entered in the Journals (see Figure 12.2, Moving a Motion).
While the established practice has been for the motion to be read in English and in French by the Speaker (or by the Speaker and the Clerk if the former is not familiar with both languages),[226] the requirement that all motions be read in their entirety is regularly relaxed, particularly for lengthy motions. The Speaker will read the first few words and then ask, “Shall I dispense (with reading the entire text)?”, to which the response from Members is usually in the affirmative.[227] Likewise, the requirement that all motions be read in both languages is also regularly waived, given the existence of simultaneous interpretation on the floor of the House and the immediate availability of the text of the motion in both official languages on the Order Paper or Notice Paper. When a motion does not appear on the Order Paper or has not been published and distributed, Members may request at any time during debate that the Chair read it aloud, so long as no Member speaking to the matter is thereby interrupted.[228]
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