Amendments and Subamendments to Motions / Relevance

Amending motion

Journals pp. 550-1

Debates pp. 5794-5

Background

During debate on the motion of Mr. MacEachen (President of the Privy Council), that a special joint committee be appointed to "inquire into and report upon the nature and kind of legislation required to deal with emergencies which may arise . . . by reason of lawlessness or violence ... ", Mr. Woolliams (Calgary North) proposed an amendment asking that the committee also be empowered to enquire into and report on all the circumstances giving rise to the proclamation of the War Measures Act on October 16, 1970. The Deputy Speaker said that he had some difficulty with the procedural acceptability of this amendment and itivited comments from Members.

Issue

Does the amendment broaden the terms of a committee's enquiry beyond the scope of the motion?

Decision

In this case, no. It is therefore in order.

Reasons given by the Speaker

The amendment is not a substantive motion but an extension or an amplification of the main motion; it would be almost impossible "to consider the main motion in an abstract form without reference to events in Canadian history".

Sources cited

Standing Order 47.

Journals, April 4, 1951, p. 243; November 2, 1951, p. 67; December 7, 1962, pp. 371-2.

Beauchesne, 4th ed., pp. 238-9, c. 291.

References

Debates, May 13, 1971, pp. 5779-88, 5793-4.