Amendments to Motions on Progress of Bills

Introduction

Three major kinds of amendment can be moved on the motions for second and third reading. These are the "hoist", the reasoned amendment and amendments discharging the bill and referring its subject-matter to committee (at second reading) or recommitting the bill with instructions (at third reading). Hoist and second-reading committal amendments follow established patterns and rarely present procedural difficulty. Reasoned amendments, however, are more problematic since they depend upon certain conditions adopted from British practice. One of these conditions at second reading has, to some extent, displaced the others in Canadian practice: it has been considered more and more important that the reasoned amendment should oppose the principle of the bill. The practice began during Speaker Lamoureux's tenure and can be traced in the decisions that follow. Amendments to recommit a bill at third reading may also present problems if the instructions to the committee are out of order.

Amendments to motions on the progress of bills can be out of order for a number of other reasons as well. Such amendments, for example, must not relate to particular clauses of the bill, propose any change which would affect the Royal Recommendation or attach any condition to the motion.