Amendments to the Content of Bills / Report Stage

April 30, 1985

Debates p. 4232-3

When the Ho use proceeded to report stage of Bill C-15 (Investment Canada Act) on April 23, 1985, the Speaker made a preliminary statement regarding the procedural acceptability of several motions, and invited comments from the Members before making a final ruling. In particular, the Speaker said that Motions Nos. 78 and 79, standing in the name of Mr. Axworthy (Winnipeg—Fort Garry), gave the Chair so me difficulty in that they appeared to have as their purpose the expansion of the scope of the agency, which would not be in order. Mr. Axworthy was asked to explain the purpose of the motions. He responded that the bill defined Canadian control as being ownership of one-third of the shares and the proposed amendments would simply change the fraction required. Mr. Hnatyshyn (President of the Privy Council) replied that the motions sought to impose a definition on "acquisition of control" different from that in the bill as agreed to, and that by lowering the fraction of voting shares required, the motions would expand the jurisdiction of the agency beyond what was agreed to at second reading.

Issue

Is it in order to amend the bill so as to lower the threshold at which an acquisition would be subject to review by the agency under the proposed legislation?

Decision

Yes. The motions are in order and can be put.

Reasons given by the Speaker

The motions are simply modifying the conditions of acquisition of control, and the agency already has the authority to review acquisition of control as defined in the bill.