Rules of Debate / Miscellaneous

Length of debate; second reading; eight-hour rule

Debates p. 25746

Background

On May 19, Mr. Hnatyshyn (Saskatoon West) rose on a point of order with respect to a ruling made on May 16 by the Acting Speaker (Mr. Blaker), during the second reading of Bill C-155, An Act to facilitate transportation, shipping and handling of western grain and to amend certain acts in consequence thereof, to the effect that the time devoted to points of order must be included in the calculation of the eight hours of consideration of a bill at second reading. According to Mr. Hnatyshyn, the points of order must not be included in a debate in the House. After hearing Members' comments, the Speaker took the matter under consideration and ruled a few days later.

Issue

Is the time devoted to points of order included in the calculation of the eight hours of consideration of a bill at second reading?

Decision

Yes. The period of time devoted to points of order must be included in the eight hours.

Reasons given by the Speaker

The Acting Speaker gave a ruling as to the substance of the problem and his ruling was entirely correct and reflects the rules and practices in that whenever a specific length of time is provided for any proceedings, the time taken up by points of order is not subtracted from the total time allowed. However, the Chair has the discretion to extend the time allowed for a Member's speech if, in the Chair's opinion, the Member has been unfairly interrupted by points of order.

References

Debates, May 16, 1983, pp. 25479, 25482-3; May 19, 1983, pp. 25586-90.