Special Debates / Take-note Debates

Chair’s statement: guidelines for the conduct of take-note debates

October 3, 2006

Debates, p. 3599

On October 3, 2006, pursuant to an Order made on September 28, 2006,^[1] the House resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole to consider a motion with respect to the situation in Sudan. On October 2, 2006, the House had adopted a motion allowing any Member rising to speak during the debate to divide his or her time with another Member.^[2] The Chair of Committees of the Whole (Bill Blaikie) made a statement explaining the rules governing take-note debates.^[3]

Statement of the Chair

The Chair: The House is now in Committee of the Whole on Government Business No. 10.

I would like to open this session in Committee of the Whole by making a short statement on take note debates.

This is probably the first time some Members are taking part in this type of debate. I will explain how we will proceed.

Tonight’s debate is a general one on the situation in Sudan. As is the case in any proceeding in Committee of the Whole, Members need not be in their own seats to be recognized.

Each Member will be allocated 10 minutes at a time for debate. These speeches are subject to a 10-minute question and comment period. Furthermore, according to the motion adopted yesterday, any Member rising to speak during the debate may indicate to the Chair that he or she will be dividing his or her time with another Member.

Although Members may speak more than once, the Chair will generally try to ensure that all Members wishing to speak are heard before inviting Members to speak again while respecting the proportional party rotations for speakers.

During the 10-minute period for questions and comments, there are no set time limits on each intervention, but I will work to allow as many Members as possible to participate in this part of the proceedings and ask for the cooperation of all Members in keeping their interventions as succinct as possible.

As the Chair, I will follow the rules governing Committee of the Whole. Nonetheless, in order to allow a good exchange, I will use discretion and flexibility in the application of these rules.

May I also remind Members that even in Committee of the Whole, Ministers and Members should be referred to by their title or by their riding name, and of course all remarks should be addressed through the Chair.

The first round of speakers will be the usual all party round, namely the Government, the Official Opposition, the Bloc Québécois and the New Democratic Party. After that we will follow the usual proportional rotation.

At the end of this evening’s debate, the Committee of the Whole will rise and the House will adjourn until tomorrow.

We can now begin this evening’s session.