Amendments to the Content of Bills / Report Stage

Adding a preamble

Debates p. 28001

Background

On September 29, as the House was about to begin committee stage consideration of Bill C‑155, An Act to facilitate the transportation, shipping and handling of western grain, the Speaker made some preliminary remarks regarding the admissibility of a motion in amendment standing in the name of Mr. Mazankowski (Vegreville), which sought to add a preamble to the bill. The Chair allowed Members to make their comments. For his part, the Member for Vegreville maintained that his motion sought to define the objective and intention of the bill. On October 6, the Speaker listed the reasons for her reservations regarding the admissibility of the motion and on October 13 she rendered her decision.

Issue

Can a preamble be added to a bill which did not originally have one?

Decision

No. The motion in amendment is not admissible.

Reasons given by the Speaker

The motion seeks to introduce a preamble in disguised form. Even if the motion does not include the usual "whereases", it is aimed at importing a preamble. A Member cannot do indirectly what he is prohibited from doing directly.

Sources cited

Beauchesne, 5th ed., p. 235, c. 779(3).

Journals, June 11, 1973, pp. 394-5.

Debates, July 13, 1981, p. 11463.

References

Debates, September 29, 1983, p. 27569; October 6, 1983, p. 27824; October 7, 1983, p. 27862.