The Legislative Process / Stages
Report stage: power of the Speaker to select amendments; admissibility of motions negatived in committee
Debates, p. 2627
Context
On June 20, 2006, the House proceeded to the consideration at report stage of Bill C-2, Federal Accountability Act. The Speaker, exercising his authority pursuant to Standing Order 76.1, ruled on the admissibility of 30 motions in amendment standing on the Notice Paper.
Resolution
The Speaker ruled that of the 30 motions, five had not been selected as they could have been presented in committee. He noted that two of the remaining motions selected were identical to proposed amendments negatived in committee by a casting vote of the Chair, having thus been negatived for procedural reasons. He explained that he had decided to select them for consideration at report stage in order to afford the House the opportunity to vote on the substance of these amendments.
Decision of the Chair
The Speaker: There are 30 motions in amendment standing on the Notice Paper for the report stage of Bill C-2.
Motions Nos. 5, 15 and 25 to 27 will not be selected by the Chair as they could have been proposed in committee.
All the 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) regarding the selection of motions in amendment at the report stage.
Two of the report stage motions received are identical to the proposed amendments negatived in committee by a casting vote of the Chair.
Since the rejection of these motions was essentially a matter of procedure rather than a judgment on their foundation, I have decided to select them at report stage, which will allow the House to vote on the substance of these amendments.
The motions will be grouped for debate as follows:
Group No. 1, concerning conflicts of interest and lobbying, will include Motions Nos. 1 to 4, 6, 7 and 9.
Group No. 2, concerning access to information, Motions Nos. 8, 13, 14 and 17 to 22.
Group No. 3, concerning the Director of Public Prosecutions, will include Motions Nos. 10 to 12, 16, 23 and 24.
Group No. 4, concerning procurements and contracting, Motions Nos. 28 to 30.
The voting patterns for the motions within each group are available from the Clerk. The Chair will provide the details to the House at the time of voting.
I shall now propose Motions Nos. 1 to 4, 6, 7 and 9 in Group No. 1 to the House.