Selected Decisions of Speaker James Jerome 1974-1979
Introduction
The Selected Decisions of Speaker James Jerome was first published in 1983 and it is my pleasure to introduce this reprint of the work to Members of the Thirty-Fifth Parliament and to students of Canadian parliamentary procedure.
As in many Westminster-style parliaments and in many other types of legislatures, the Canadian Parliament faces a complex re-examination of its role and ability to meet the needs and aspirations of citizens. While it searches for answers to these profound questions, the House of Commons remains mindful of its tradition and history and of the evolution of its procedures and practice. Members can be guided by the lessons of the past as they determine the shape of the future. We hope that this publication will prove helpful in that quest.
Ottawa, 1994
Clerk of the House,
Robert Marleau
Introduction to Speaker Jerome Decisions
The proceedings of the Canadian House of Commons are regulated chiefly by the Standing Orders, the written rules of the House and the practices and traditions which have developed here or which have been adopted from the United Kingdom Parliament. The proceedings of the House, despite its long history, have not settled into a pattern which is fixed and unchanging. Instead, they have undergone and continue to undergo development and modification. This process of evolution and adjustment is evident in two distinct ways. One occurs through the adoption of rule changes made by a decision of the House. The introduction of closure in 1913 and the present method of considering the business of supply, implemented in 1969, are two examples of this sort. Another means by which the practices of the House are developed occurs through the interpretation of the rules and traditions made by the Speaker in decisions from the Chair. Indeed, the Speaker's decisions or rulings form a fundamental part of procedure. Their importance to an understanding of the practices of the House cannot be overestimated.
Despite the importance of Speakers' decisions, they have been collected for publication only sporadically. Brief references to them were featured for a time in the Canadian Parliamentary Companion. In addition, two collections of decisions appeared during the nineteenth century in 1872 and in 1900[1]. Since then, only one other compendium of decisions of the Chair has been published, and that was in 1943 in the form of an unannotated appendix to the third edition of Arthur Beauchesne's Rules and Forms of the House of Commons of Canada.
Until now, the study of Speakers' rulings has been hindered by the lack of comprehensive collections. It has been necessary to search out rulings in the Journals or Debates and, unless one was seeking only a specific decision, the process of going through these many volumes was frequently laborious and not always entirely fruitful.
This present volume, comprising a selection of the decisions made during the speakership of the Hon. James Jerome, 1974-79, is the first of a series which, when completed, will bring together in summary form all the significant decisions of the Speakers of the Canadian House of Commons. In starting with Mr. Jerome, the latest Speaker to have completed his term, the series will make available first those decisions which have been rendered within the general framework of current operating procedures. This volume will be followed by the publication of the decisions made during the speakership of the Hon. Lucien Lamoureux which extended over three Parliaments, from 1966 to 1974, and include the rule changes inaugurated in 1969. Subsequent volumes will keep the series up to date and will provide useful information on long-established practices as well as historical information on procedure which has become obsolete.
The material of the Jerome Decisions is presented in a uniform format which includes a brief account of the context in which the ruling was made, a concise statement of the issues involved, the decision itself and, perhaps most important, the reasons which the Speaker invoked in reaching the decision. This is supplemented by citations to any authority or precedents which may have been made in the decision and by references to arguments presented by Members prior to the Speaker's ruling[2].
Any compilation of this kind is necessarily selective. In the course of a parliamentary session the Chair delivers numerous rulings of a routine nature. It would clearly undermine the usefulness of this compilation if all such rulings were included. The editors have selected for this publication those rulings which, in their judgment, were the most significant and important of the Jerome speakership. This is not to suggest that they necessarily established new precedents or placed a new interpretation on the rules and practice. Most were based on established practice, well supported by previous precedents, but at the same time added to the weight of precedent or, in some cases, refined or re-defined the appropriate practice.
I wish to acknowledge the painstaking contributions of many Procedural Clerks from Committees, Journals and Table Research who, under the guidance of a Table Officer, prepared the initial selection and compilation of the rulings. This material was subsequently turned over to the Table Research Branch for revision, verification and editing. Special mention should also he made of the assistance provided by the Translation Branch of the Secretary of State and also by the Committee Reporting Service and the French and English Index Branches of the House of Commons.
Ottawa, 1983
Clerk of the House,
C.B. Koester
[1] Augustin Laperriere, Decisions of the Speakers of the Legislative Assembly and
House of Commons of Canada, from 1841 to June 1872, Ottawa, 1872.
L.G. Desjardins, Decisions of the Speakers of the House
of Commons of Canada 1867-1900, [Quebec], 1900.
[2] References to the Standing Orders arc to those in effect at the time of the decision.