The Legislative Process / Stages
Report stage: power of the Speaker to select amendments; opportunity for amendments to have been presented in committee
Debates, p. 1299
Context
On November 15, 2004, the House proceeded to the consideration at report stage of Bill C-4, International Interests in Mobile Equipment (aircraft equipment) Act. The Speaker, exercising his authority pursuant to Standing Order 76.1, ruled on the admissibility of six motions in amendment standing on the Notice Paper.
Resolution
The Speaker ruled that Motions Nos. 1 to 6 would not be selected for debate because they could have been presented in committee. He also took the opportunity to review with Members of the new Parliament how the Chair deals with report stage motions.
Decision of the Chair
The Speaker: Given that this is a new Parliament with many new Members and that this is the first occasion that we are considering report stage motions to amend a bill, I would like to take this opportunity to briefly explain how report stage motions are treated by the Chair.
There are two initial decisions that the Speaker takes on each motion. The first one concerns procedural admissibility. If the motion does not respect the general rules of admissibility it will not be printed on the Notice Paper and will be returned to the Member with a short explanation. This means there is no opportunity to debate such motions.
The second decision concerns whether the report stage motions on the Notice Paper will be selected for debate.
The Speaker has been rigorously exercising a power of selection since March 21, 2001, following an amendment to the Standing Orders made on that day, as I recall. The purpose of this discretionary power of selection is to ensure that the main opportunity for amending a bill is in committee stage and not later at report stage in the House.
Report stage exists as an opportunity for the House to examine a committee’s work on a bill. If report stage either duplicates or replaces committee stage, then its original purpose is lost and the valuable time of the House is wasted.
The Speaker uses the following criteria for selection: report stage motions will not be selected for debate if they were ruled inadmissible in committee; they could have been presented in committee; they were defeated in committee; they were considered and withdrawn in committee; they are repetitive, frivolous or vexatious; or, they would unnecessarily prolong the proceedings at report stage.
Motions may be selected if they further amend an amendment adopted by the committee, make consequential changes to the bill based on an amendment in committee, or delete a clause.
If Members believe that their report stage motion is of exceptional significance but does not meet the selection criteria, they should send a letter of explanation to the Speaker. From time to time the Chair may be persuaded to override the selection criteria in the interest of fairness, and this letter should be sent when the report stage motion is submitted to the Journals Branch.
Finally, I would like to urge all Chairs of any committee with a bill before it to afford new Members of Parliament every opportunity to participate fully. I recognize that this may take a little extra time but better in committee than in the House.
I would also remind all hon. Members, experienced and new, that the committee staff are ready to answer any questions that you may have.
For Bill C-4 there are six motions in amendment standing on the Notice Paper for the report stage.
Motions Nos. 1 to 6 will not be selected by the Chair because they could have been presented in committee. Consequently, the House will proceed to consider the motion to concur in report stage.