The Legislative Process / Stages

Report stage: power of the Speaker to select amendments; selection and grouping of motions

June 11, 2012

Debates, pp. 9123–4

On June 11, 2012, the House proceeded to the consideration at report stage of Bill C-38, An Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on March 29, 2012 and other measures. Pursuant to Standing Order 76.1,^[1] the Speaker ruled on the selection and grouping for debate and voting of 871 motions in amendment standing on the Notice Paper.

Resolution

Exceptionally, the Speaker explained the reasoning behind his report stage ruling. He stated that, in keeping with recent precedents, the motions to delete clauses were found to be in order. He grouped them for debate and applied the vote on one motion to others as much as possible to minimize time spent in the House on such motions. Motions to amend clauses, submitted by Members who had no opportunity to present substantive amendments at committee stage, were also selected, except for similar motions already considered in committee, and they were grouped according to the divisions of the Bill. He added that the vote on the first motion would apply to the Members’ other motions in the same clause. The Speaker also specified which motions were not selected because they either required a royal recommendation, were defeated in committee, or would have introduced inconsistencies. The Speaker suggested that the House or the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs might wish to re-evaluate the adequacy of the rules and practices regarding amendments presented at report stage.

Decision of the Chair

The Speaker: As Members are aware, the Chair does not ordinarily provide an explanation on the basis for the report stage ruling. In cases where there are a large number of amendments or where the relations among them are complex, it has been found helpful to provide some description of the underlying organization of the ruling. I believe that the case before us today is one in which the House may benefit from some comments in this regard.

I remind the House that my comments are limited to addressing procedural issues relating to report stage and to my responsibility as Speaker to ensure that the relevant provisions contained in the Standing Orders are complied with.

On February 27, 2001, the House adopted a motion to add an additional paragraph to the “note” to Standing Order 76(5) and 76.1(5).^[2] That additional final paragraph added to the note reads as follows:

For greater clarity, the Speaker will not select for debate a motion or series of motions of a repetitive, frivolous or vexatious nature or of a nature that would serve merely to prolong unnecessarily proceedings at the report stage and, in exercising this power of selection, the Speaker shall be guided by the practice followed in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.

As mentioned in the House of Commons Procedure and Practice, [Second Edition], at page 778, “This occurred in response to the flooding of the Notice Paper with hundreds of amendments”.

Following the adoption of this new note in the Standing Orders, Speaker Milliken made a statement, Debates, March 21, 2001, pages 1991 to 1993, regarding how the Chair would interpret this note which has formed the basis of our current practice with regard to the selection of motions at report stage. If I may add, this process appears to have effectively served the House since that time.

Given the infrequency with which similar cases to those that led to the introduction of the note have arisen in the past decade, the Speaker has little in the way of precedent to guide him in arranging the report stage motions in a manner which will adequately reflect the various competing interests in the House.

In reviewing the motions placed before the House, there are essentially two types of motions the Chair has received. First, hundreds of motions to delete individual clauses in the bill have been placed on notice as well as a second group of amendments which seek to amend the text of a clause.

The recent precedents in relation to both types of motions are clear. For example, motions to delete clauses have always been found to be in order and it must also be noted have been selected at report stage. These motions are allowed at report stage because Members may wish to express views on a clause without seeking to amend it. As is the case on such occasions, I have tried to minimize the amount of time spent in the House on this kind of motion by grouping them as tightly as possible and by applying the vote on one to as many others as possible.

The second group of motions, which seek to amend the text of individual clauses, have been submitted by Members who had no opportunity to present amendments at committee stage and, consistent with the current practice, their motions have also been selected, except in the case where similar motions had already been considered by the committee and where all other procedural requirements have been met. The grouping of these motions follows the divisions of the Bill. Motions have been grouped by the Members submitting them for each clause of the Bill. The vote on the first motion will be applied to the Member’s other motions in that [clause].

Although 871 motions have been placed on the Notice Paper, it is clearly not intended, nor do our rules and practices lend themselves to the taking of 871 consecutive votes. With respect to the voting table, substantive amendments have been grouped so as to allow for a clear expression of opinion on each of the subject areas contained in the Bill. Motions to delete have been dealt with in conformity with the grouping scheme outlined above.

As your Speaker, I am fully aware of the extraordinary nature of the current situation. In reviewing the March 2001 statement by then Speaker Milliken, I was struck by the following, which I feel might have some resonance today:

As your Speaker, I am ready to shoulder the report stage responsibilities that the House has spelled out for me. However, I think it would be naive to hope that the frustrations implicit in the putting on notice of hundreds of motions in amendment of a bill will somehow be answered by bringing greater rigour to the Speaker’s process of selection.

Since the decision of the House on February 27, 2001 to add the final paragraph to the note in the Standing Orders regarding report stage, there are few precedents to guide the Speaker in dealing with this type of situation. In my selection of motions, in their grouping and in the organization of the votes, I have made every effort to respect both the wishes of the House and my responsibility to organize the consideration of report stage motions in a fair and balanced manner. To the extent that some may have differing views concerning the decisions taken, it may be that the House or perhaps the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs will wish to revisit the adequacy of our rules and practices in dealing with cases of this extraordinary nature.

There are 871 motions in amendment standing on the Notice Paper for the report stage of C-38.

The Chair will not select Motions Nos. 570, 571, 576, 626 to 628, 630, 842 and 843, since they require a royal recommendation. The Chair will not select Motions Nos. 411 and 412, because they were defeated in committee.

Motions Nos. 27, 29, 39, 55 to 61, 71, 73, 75, 83, 85 and 545 will not be selected by the Chair as they would introduce inconsistencies.

All remaining motions have been examined and the Chair is satisfied that they meet the guidelines expressed in the note to Standing Order 76.1(5)^[3] regarding the selection of motions in amendment at the report stage.

The motions will be grouped for debate as follows:

Group No. 1, Motions Nos. 1 to 15.

Group No. 2, Motions Nos. 16 to 23.

Group No. 3, Motions Nos. 24 to 26, 28, 30 to 38, 40 to 54, 62 to 70, 72, 74, 76 to 82, 84 and 86 to 367.

Group No. 4, Motions Nos. 368 to 410, 413 to 544, 546 to 569, 572 to 575, 577 to 625, 629, 631 to 841 and 844 to 871.

The voting patterns for the motions within each group are available at the Table. The Chair will remind the House of each pattern at the time of voting.

I shall now propose Motions Nos. 1 to 15 in Group No. 1 to the House.