The Daily Program

Introduction

Every day the House sits, the conduct of parliamentary business follows a set pattern prescribed by the Standing Orders. The official agenda of the House appears in the Notice Paper and lists the items that may be addressed. It is up to the Speaker to ensure that this order is followed. The activities of the House are generally grouped into five categories: Daily Proceedings, Routine Proceedings, Government Orders, Private Members’ Business and Adjournment Proceedings. The decisions in this chapter relate to four themes: Daily Proceedings, Routine Proceedings, Government Orders and Weekly business statement.

The Daily Proceedings category includes three events: Prayer, Statements by Members and Oral Questions. Every sitting day begins with the reading of the prayer, which takes place before the doors are opened to the public and the work of the House begins. On Wednesdays, the national anthem is sung after the prayer but before the doors are opened. Statements by Members and Oral Questions follow later in the sitting. The timing varies each day, but the length of time allocated to each rubric does not. Statements by Members, which provides an opportunity for Members who are not Ministers to speak for up to one minute on subjects of international, national, provincial or local interest, is limited to 15 minutes. In one of his decisions, Speaker Scheer enjoined Members to be careful and to avoid personal attacks during this period, as the individual being targeted cannot respond.

Several subsequent decisions addressed matters occurring during Oral Questions, a 45-minute period following Statements by Members during which Members may ask questions on matters falling within the jurisdiction of the federal government. In one decision, Speaker Scheer stated that, despite the considerable latitude granted to Members, questions on the internal affairs of parties, on Senate proceedings and on the actions of Senators or other Members would likely be ruled out of order. He also specified that it is not for the Chair to determine whether the content of the responses is relevant, and that the onus is on all Members to raise the quality of both questions and answers. The Speaker was also called on to deliver a ruling on the rules associated with written questions.

The second category of the Daily Program covered in this chapter falls under the rubric “Routine Proceedings”, which is the part of the daily program during which various matters of essential business are addressed. Members may bring a variety of matters to the attention of the House, generally without debate. Separate rubrics are addressed each sitting day in a specific order. “Motions” provides Members with the opportunity to move various specific types of motions for debate, such as motions for concurring in committee reports. Ministers may also move motions about the organization of House business.

In one decision, Speaker Scheer was called upon to clarify the limits of using Standing Order 56.1^[1] during Routine Proceedings. This Standing Order allows for the passing, without debate or amendment, of a routine motion for which unanimous consent is denied, unless 25 Members rise to oppose it. In his decision, Speaker Scheer explained that motions moved pursuant to this Standing Order cannot interfere with committee business. He also reminded Members that, as the Chair does not receive any advance notice for this type of motion and must put the matter to the House without delay, it is important for Members to speak up promptly if they have concerns about whether a motion is in order.

With regard to the rubric “Government Orders”, which accounts for the largest proportion of the House’s time at each sitting, it includes every matter that a Minister has proposed for study, and also the consideration of the business of supply on allotted days. While the flow of parliamentary business and sitting hours is outlined by prescribed rules in the Standing Orders, the House may temporarily suspend those by adopting temporary or special orders. One of Speaker Scheer’s decisions addressed a case in which the Government moved a motion to extend sitting hours. The Speaker noted that such motions are usually moved during Routine Proceedings, but that they could also be moved during Government Orders.