Amendments to the Content of Bills / Report Stage

Motion in amendment, infringing on financial initiative of the Crown; beyond scope of clause

Journals pp. 1213-4

Debates pp. 7052-3

Background

On June 21, during consideration at the report stage of Bill C-27, an Act to establish the Department of Employment and Immigration, the Canada Employment and Immigration Commission and the Canada Employment and Immigration Advisory Council, to amend the Unemployment Insurance Act, 1971, and to amend certain other statutes in consequence thereof, the Speaker expressed reservations as to the acceptability of an amendment to clause 38 moved by Mr. Rodriguez (Nickel Belt), to make benefits payable to women who can prove the impending adoption of a child. When debate re-opened on June 23, the Acting Speaker (Mr. Turner) made a final ruling.

Issue

Is a motion in amendment acceptable when it appears to go beyond the scope of the clause it seeks to amend, and when it entails an additional expenditure from the public treasury without being accompanied by a Royal Recommendation?

Decision

The motion is unacceptable.

Reasons given by the Acting Speaker

First, the motion goes beyond the scope of the clause it seeks to amend and, second, it should have been brought in as a separate clause, in which case it would still have been rejected because it involves an expenditure of public moneys that only the Crown may authorize.

Authority cited

May, 19th ed., p. 521.

References

Debates, June 21, 1977, p. 6889.