Adjournment Motion Proposed under Standing Order 26 / Application Not Accepted

Issue not urgent; other opportunity for debate

Debates pp. 2191-2

Background

Mr. Broadbent (Oshawa—Whitby) sought leave to move the adjournment of the House, under the provisions of Standing Order 26, in order to discuss the government's decision to export an additional 3.75 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Mr. Broadbent characterized the decision as "an unacceptable sell-out of our needed energy resources, coming at a time when Canadians face a winter threatened by even greater oil shortages".

Issue

Does the application satisfy the provisions of Standing Order 26?

Decision

The application is not accepted.

Reasons given by the Speaker

The rule requires that the subject matter proposed for debate relate to a genuine emergency. In this case, the issue of emergency is a matter of argument between the government and the opposition. The Chair is inclined in such an instance "to rule against the application of this rule where the very emergency itself is a matter of interpretation or a matter of argument".

Another reason to reject the application is the likelihood that the House will have the opportunity to debate the matter within reasonable time by other means. A budget is to be received shortly in the House and the Chair believes that this will give the opposition an opportunity to consider the entire economic policy of the government.