Introduction

The Selected Decisions of Speaker Lamoureux is the second in a series of volumes which will bring together in a comprehensive collection all the significant rulings of Speakers of the Canadian House of Commons since Confederation. The first volume contained the decisions of Speaker Jerome, whose tenure was between the years 1974 and 1979. The present volume, which presents approximately 400 decisions, covers a period from 1966 to 1974.

Speaker Lamoureux presided over three Parliaments during nine years in the Chair, a record matched by only one other Speaker in Canada's parliamentary history. For the first three years of his tenure, Speaker Lamoureux applied and interpreted rules that had not been changed substantially since 1927. However, late in 1968 and again in 1969, the House of Commons made some fundamental reforms related to the con­ sideration of supply, the operation of committees and the conduct of other business. A brief explanation of the effect of some of these changes has been included in the introduction provided to each of the twelve chapters. The Speaker's subsequent decisions formed the basic interpretation of these new rules. With respect to supply, for example, the rulings of Speaker Lamoureux clarified the process of selection of motions presented on a supply day; several of his decisions also explained the character of notices of opposition to specific items in the Estimates. Many of these rulings have influenced House practice to the present day.

As with the Jerome Decisions, the material is presented in a summary format which includes a brief account of the context in which the ruling was made, a concise statement of the issue involved, the decision itself and the reasons given by the Speaker in explaining his decision. This is supplemented by references to any precedents or authority cited by the Speaker, as well as to comments or arguments offered by Members prior to the Speaker's ruling.

There are three methods available by which any particular decision can be located. There is a chronological listing of all decisions as well as an analytical index, both of which are to be found at the back of the volume. There is also a comprehensive table of contents which groups all the decisions under twelve major categories and then further subdivides them under more specific headings.

Many people have contributed to this work. I would like to acknowledge the efforts of the staff in the Table Research Branch who have worked assiduously to gather, summarize, select, and prepare all the decisions for publication. In addition, I wish to ex­ press my thanks to the translation service in the Department of the Secretary of State and also to the House of Commons Index and Reference Branch for the useful analytical index and to various members of the Support and Information Systems Directorate for their assistance in the publication of this book of decisions.

Ottawa, 1985

Clerk of the House

C.B. Koester