Routine Proceedings / Motions

Committee report

Journals pp. 327-9

Debates pp. 2575-6

Background

On January 19, when the Speaker had called out the motion of Mr. Yewchuk (Athabasca) which sought to have the first report of the Standing Committee on Indian Affairs and Northern Development concurred in, Mr. Macdonald (President of the Privy Council) raised a point of order. He objected to the impropriety of calling the motion under the heading Motions during Routine Proceedings because the Member lacked authority from the committee to do so. A motion to concur in a substantive proposal he claimed, "can only be done by a private Member by way of a private Member's notice of motion". The consequence of accepting the motion put by Mr. Yewchuk under the heading Motions, according to Mr. Macdonald, "would be to make it virtually impossible to continue to plan the business of the House".

Issue

Can a private Member or an unauthorized Member of a committee propose a motion to concur in a report from a standing committee?

Decision

Yes. A private Member may propose such a motion and it must be placed under the heading Motions.

Reasons given by the Speaker

The few precedents to which the Chair can revert for guidance suggest that a Member who is not a member of a committee can move concurrence in a report. ''An extensive search of the records of the House has failed to disclose that any objection to a motion made under circumstances similar to those now under review has ever been made." Furthermore, "the provisions of the Report of the Special Committee on Procedure as adopted on July 12, 1955 ...  make it obligatory to place a motion to concur in a report under the heading Motions".

Sources cited

Journals, May 23, 1932, p. 505; May 19, 1947, p. 423; July 12, 1955, p. 944.

Debates, May 23, 1932, p. 3246; May 19, 1947, pp. 3183-90.

References

Debates, January 19, 1970, pp. 2513-23.