Presiding Officers
A Committee of the Whole is not chaired by
the Speaker. Instead, it is chaired by the Chairman of Committees of the Whole.
In his or her absence, the Chair is taken by the Deputy Chairman of Committees
of the Whole, or the Assistant Deputy Chairman of Committees of the Whole;
alternatively, the Speaker may call upon any Member to chair the proceedings in
a Committee of the Whole. [44]
Selection
At the beginning of each Parliament, the
House selects from among its Members a Chairman of Committees of the Whole who
also acts as Deputy Speaker in the absence of the
Speaker. [45]
The selection of the Chairman of Committees of the Whole proceeds as follows: a
Member, usually the Prime Minister, moves that a particular Member of the House
be selected Chairman of Committees of the Whole, the Member proposed usually
coming from the government side of the
House. [46]
The motion
is moved following the Speaker’s report to the House on the Speech from
the Throne and is often agreed to without discussion or
dissent. [47] The
Member selected acts in that capacity until the end of the Parliament, unless a
vacancy arises during the course of the Parliament, at which time a successor is
chosen. [48]
A Deputy
Chairman and an Assistant Deputy Chairman may also be selected in the same
manner as the Chairman, except that their terms of office are effective only for
the session in which they are
chosen. [49]
Authority
The Standing Orders empower the Chairman of
Committees of the Whole to maintain order and decorum in the Committee just as
the Speaker does in the House and to decide questions of
order. [50]
However,
the Chairman does not possess the authority to name a Member and order him or
her to withdraw from the Chamber for the remainder of the day. That power can
only be exercised by the Speaker in the House upon receiving a report from the
Chairman of Committees of the
Whole. [51]
Both the
Deputy Chairman and the Assistant Deputy Chairman of Committees of the Whole
have the same powers as the
Chairman. [52]
Appeals to the Chairman’s Rulings
Members may appeal a ruling of the Chairman
of Committees of the Whole to the
Speaker. [53]
(Rulings
of the Speaker ceased to be subject to an appeal to the House in
1965. [54] )
After the
Chairman has made a ruling, a Member may rise on a point of order and appeal the
ruling to the
Speaker. [55]
Such an
appeal is not subject to debate. The Chairman immediately leaves the Chair at
the Table, the Mace is placed back on the Table, and the Speaker resumes the
Chair. (In the absence of the Speaker, the Chairman may take the Chair and
decide the appeal to his or her own
ruling. [56] )
The Chairman stands in front of the Speaker’s Chair and reports the incident
and the ruling which has been appealed to the
Speaker. [57]
The Speaker may hear from other Members on the matter before
ruling. [58]
As with all Speaker’s rulings, after
it has been delivered by the Speaker, there is no appeal and no discussion is
allowed. [59]
Only on rare occasions has a Chairman’s ruling been
overturned. [60]
Since
the Committee has not risen and reported progress, as soon as the appeal
proceedings have been completed, the Speaker leaves the Chair, the Mace is
removed from the Table and the Committee of the Whole resumes its
deliberations. [61]