The Daily Program / Daily Proceedings

Oral Questions: Minister tabling a document

May 4, 2005

Debates, pp. 5657-8

On April 13, 2005, Ken Epp (Edmonton–Sherwood Park) rose on a point of order with respect to the tabling of a document during Oral Questions by Stéphane Dion (Minister of the Environment).^[1] Mr. Epp argued that it was out of order to table a document during Oral Questions. He noted that time in Question Period had been taken up by the tabling of a document and added that the document should have been tabled during Routine Proceedings because it was not one that was required to be tabled. Mauril Bélanger (Deputy Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Minister responsible for Official Languages, Minister responsible for Democratic Reform and Associate Minister of National Defence) replied that no objections had been made at the time. The Speaker took the matter under advisement.^[2]

On May 4, 2005, the Speaker delivered his ruling. After reviewing the evolution of the practice of tabling of documents and the relevant Standing Orders, he concluded that there is no requirement for Ministers to table these types of documents only during Routine Proceedings. In view of the precedents cited, he declared that the Chair would continue to permit the tabling of documents by Ministers during Oral Questions or at any time. Finally, the Speaker suggested that Mr. Epp might wish to ask the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs to review and clarify the rules governing the tabling of these types of documents.

Decision of the Chair

The Speaker: I am now prepared to rule on the point of order raised on Wednesday, April 13, 2005 by the hon. Member for Edmonton–Sherwood Park concerning the tabling of a document during Question Period by the hon. Minister of the Environment.

I would like to thank the hon. Member for Edmonton–Sherwood Park for bringing this matter to the attention of the House, as well as the hon. Deputy Leader of the Government in the House of Commons for his intervention.

In raising this matter, the hon. Member expressed concern that time in Question Period had been taken up with the tabling of a document and that the document should have been tabled during Routine Proceedings because it was not one that was required to be tabled. The Deputy Leader of the Government in the House responded that there had been no objections to the tabling at the time and since it had been received by a Table Officer, it had been properly tabled.

I wish first to reassure the hon. Member for Edmonton–Sherwood Park that the Chair very carefully monitors the use of time during Question Period. I can assure the House that this ongoing vigilance is very effective in protecting the time available to Members of all parties and that is despite the excessive noise that sometimes occurs in the Chamber.

As for the timing of the tabling of documents, my initial reaction to the point of order was that our practices permit a Minister to table a document at anytime during a sitting, including during Question Period, without the consent of the House. I undertook, however, to look into the matter and get back to the House.

In considering this matter, I reviewed the Standing Orders pertaining to the tabling of documents. First, Standing Order 30(3) sets down the time for and the items to be considered during Routine Proceedings, including tabling of documents. Second, Standing Order 32(1) provides for returns, reports and other papers required by statute, resolution or Standing Order to be deposited with the Clerk of the House. This is known as “back door” tabling. Third, Standing Order 32(2) states:

A Minister of the Crown, or a Parliamentary Secretary acting on behalf of a Minister, may, in his or her place in the House, state that he or she proposes to lay upon the Table of the House, any report or other paper dealing with a matter coming within the administrative responsibilities of the government, and, thereupon, the same shall be deemed for all purposes to have been laid before the House.

This Standing Order requires that these documents not be tabled back door but in the House. This normally takes place during Routine Proceedings, under “Tabling of Documents”. In addition, our practices provide that if a Minister quotes from a document in debate, the document must be tabled forthwith if so requested. If a Minister cites a document in response to a question during Oral Questions, the tabling normally occurs immediately following Question Period.

At this point, it may be useful to Members if I were to summarize the evolution of the rubric “Tabling of Documents” and the practice for tabling documents. From Confederation up to the 1950s, no documents could be presented to the House unless sent down by message from the Governor General, or in answer to an Order or Address of the House, or pursuant to statute. So long as the paper to be tabled fell into one of these categories, a Minister had only to rise, usually during Routine Proceedings, and formally present the document to the House. If the Government wished to table papers that had not been ordered, a motion had to be adopted allowing their presentation.

In 1955, the Standing Orders were amended to allow those documents required to be tabled by statute or by Order to be deposited privately with the Clerk on any sitting day.

A few years later, in 1968, in response to an increased number of reports and papers being tabled by leave rather than by statutory requirements, orders or addresses, the Standing Orders were amended to remove the requirement that leave be obtained before the documents in question could be laid before the House. This new Standing Order provided for formal tabling as long as the documents in question came under the administrative responsibilities of the Government, a very broad category of documents. They were normally tabled at the beginning of Routine Proceedings. In 1975, the heading “Tabling of Documents” was added to Routine Proceedings to codify the practice being followed.

I have examined our practices for “Tabling of Documents” since the inclusion of this rubric under Routine Proceedings to determine if the Standing Orders have been strictly followed. While these types of documents are normally tabled during Routine Proceedings, immediately following Question Period if cited in a response, or immediately if cited in debate, I have discovered that, although rare, there have been occasions when a Minister has tabled a document during Question Period. I refer Members to examples found in the Debates of March 8, 1976, at page 11574; September 15, 1992, at page 13143; February 14, 1997, at page 8135; March 26, 2001, at page 2226; and February 23, 2005, at page 3873. More recently, on April 22, the Deputy Speaker stated that a Minister may table a document at any time. I refer hon. Members to the Debates at page 5465.

Accordingly, I must conclude that our practices have evolved to a point where there is no requirement that Ministers must table these types of documents only during Routine Proceedings. Perhaps this may be because the House feels that the tabling of documents is meant to facilitate the work of the House and that of its Members. It may well be, based on the examples referred to earlier, that the tabling of documents in this manner has achieved this result.

That being said, most of the examples are relatively recent and certainly point to a new trend. The hon. Member for Edmonton–Sherwood Park may therefore wish to seek to convince the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs to review and clarify the rules governing the tabling of these kinds of documents. Certainly that would be the kind of matter that falls within the Committee’s mandate.

In the meantime, in view of the precedents just described, the Chair will continue to accept that documents may be tabled by Ministers of the Crown during Question Period or indeed at any time.

I thank the hon. Member for Edmonton–Sherwood Park for having brought this matter to the attention of the Chair.