Precedence and Sequence / Miscellaneous

Resolution in Committee of Ways and Means; notice

Journals, pp. 743-4

Debates, p. 7393

Background

When Mr. Sharp (Minister of Finance) proposed in Committee of Ways and Means a resolution to amend the Income Tax Act, Mr. Gregoire (Lapointe) raised a point of order to state that the 48-hour notice required for the introduction of a resolution had not been given. The Chairman of the Committee of the Whole (Mr. Batten) ruled that such notice was not required in this case. This ruling was appealed; when the Speaker took the Chair, he upheld the Chairman's decision.

Issue

Is the introduction of a resolution in Committee of Ways and Means governed by the rule of notice?

Decision

No. A resolution may be introduced in Committee of Ways and Means without notice.

Reasons given by the Speaker

No notice of motion is required because these resolutions are introduced in the Committee of Ways and Means. "Procedurally there has been no notice because nothing appears on the Order Paper except an appendix for the convenience and information of Members . . . Since the Ways and Means Resolutions are initiated in the committee itself and do not exist before that, no notice can be given of the resolutions. They do not exist until the Minister of Finance in Committee of Ways and Means moves a motion and intimates to the House what the resolution will be." That being so, the Standing Order does not apply.

Sources cited

May, 17th ed., p. 734.

Standing Order 41.

Journals, October 22, 1962, pp. 133-4.

References

Debates, March 7, 1968, pp. 7386-93.