House of Commons Procedure and Practice
Edited by Robert Marleau and Camille Montpetit

2000 Edition — More information …

13. Rules of Order and Decorum

Print this section | Open/print full chapter

[351]: Debates, March 24, 1942, pp. 1603-7. The Minister apparently followed the procedure set out in Beauchesne (2^nd ed., p. 92).
[352]: Journals, July 4, 1944, p. 526; July 31, 1944, pp. 761-2; May 25, 1956, pp. 625-34; February 10, 1961, p. 238; March 16, 1962, pp. 241-2; Debates, October 5, 1962, p. 233; Journals, June 19, 1964, pp. 456-7. The July 4, 1944, incident is the only case of naming in which a Member was suspended for more than a day (seven days was the penalty). In the July 31, 1944, case, the Chairman of Committees of the Whole House ruled that certain remarks by a Member were unparliamentary and asked the Member to withdraw the words. The Member appealed the Chairman’s ruling to the House, Speaker Glen took the Chair, and the House confirmed the Chairman’s ruling. The Speaker asked the Member to withdraw until the House decided what it would do. In his absence, the House passed a motion to suspend the Member for the remainder of the sitting day. All this was done without the Member being “named”. See Debates, July 31, 1944, pp. 5677-84. A similar incident occurred in 1956 when the Chairman of Committees of the Whole reported a Member to the House for not resuming his seat when directed to do so. See Debates, May 25, 1956, pp. 4340-52.
[353]: The broadcasting of House proceedings began in October 1977. There was one naming in 1978 (Debates, May 16, 1978, pp. 5455-8) and another in 1979 (Debates, March 21, 1979, pp. 4382-5), while two took place in each of the years 1981 (Debates, February 23, 1981, pp. 7586-8; December 3, 1981, pp. 13685-7) and 1982 (Debates, May 19, 1982, pp. 17593-6; June 16, 1982, pp. 18523-5). Four incidents occurred in each of the years 1983 (Debates, March 24, 1983, pp. 24109-10; May 20, 1983, pp. 25628-31; October 19, 1983, pp. 28129-31; October 31, 1983, pp. 28593-4), 1984 (Debates, May 25, 1984, pp. 4078-9; June 8, 1984, pp. 4482-3; December 17, 1984, pp. 1292-3; December 19, 1984, pp. 1363-4) and 1985 (Debates, May 22, 1985, pp. 4966-7; June 19, 1985, pp. 5973-4; June 27, 1985, p. 6270; October 11, 1985, pp. 7589-91). Five Members were named in 1986 (Debates, February 24, 1986, p. 10889; April 23, 1986, pp. 12568-9; May 21, 1986, pp. 13478-9; May 28, 1986, pp. 13713-4; June 11, 1986, pp. 14242-5).
[354]: Beauchesne appeared to have anticipated this problem as early as 1927: “The vote on the motion that a member be suspended from the service of the House after having been named by the Speaker is a mere formality, as a rejection of the motion would assuredly be followed by an immediate resignation of the Speaker, a circumstance which his complete freedom from partisanship would render unwelcome even to the parties in opposition” (Beauchesne, 2^nd ed., p. 92). Between 1944 and 1986, there were 19 instances when the Member named was suspended after a recorded division was taken on the motion. On several occasions, the offending Member withdrew from the Chamber after having been named, and the House took no further action (Debates, October 5, 1962, p. 233; February 23, 1981, pp. 7586-8; May 20, 1983, pp. 25628-31; May 25, 1984, pp. 4078-9; December 19, 1984, p. 1364). On one occasion, the named Member withdrew, but in the absence of a formal motion for suspension, the Leader of the Opposition insisted that there be one so that his party could vote against it. The Prime Minister refused to move the motion. The House was left with no choice, however, when the named Member returned to the Chamber and resumed his seat. The Member left the Chamber when the suspension motion was finally put and agreed to on a recorded division. See Debates, June 19, 1964, pp. 4489-94, 4521-5.
[355]: See the Special Committee on the Reform of the House of Commons, Third Report, p. 37, presented on June 18, 1985 (Journals, p. 839).
[356]: See the Special Committee on the Reform of the House of Commons, Third Report, p. 38, presented on June 18, 1985 (Journals, p. 839).
[357]: Journals, February 6, 1986, pp. 1645-6.
[358]: See, for example, Debates, February 11, 1986, p. 10668.
[359]: Journals, February 13, 1986, p. 1710. These changes were made permanent on June 3, 1987 (Journals, p. 1016).
[360]: Standing Order 11(2).
[361]: Standing Order 11(1).
[362]: Journals, October 11, 1985, p. 1094. Under Speaker Fraser (1986-93), only one Member was named (Debates, March 24, 1993, pp. 17482, 17486-8). During the Thirty-Fifth Parliament (1994-97), Speaker Parent named six Members, two on the same day (Debates, September 30, 1994, pp. 6386-7; May 29, 1995, pp. 12900-3; November 2, 1995, pp. 16144-5; April 24, 1996, p. 1894; February 12, 1997, pp. 8016-7), and during the First Session of the Thirty-Sixth Parliament (1997-99), he named two Members (Debates, October 1, 1997, pp. 334-5; December 1, 1998, pp. 10730-1).
[363]: Beauchesne, 4^th ed., pp. 44-5.
[364]: Standing Order 11(1)(b). No Member has been physically removed from the Chamber after being named by the Speaker. There have been, however, instances where, at the request of the Speaker, a Member has been escorted from the Chamber by the Sergeant-at-Arms. See Debates, July 4, 1944, p. 4514; May 19, 1982, p. 17596.
[365]: Standing Order 11(2).
[366]: See, for example, Debates, May 25, 1956, pp. 4340-52; March 16, 1962, pp. 1888-90. See also Chapter 19, “Committees of the Whole House”. The Chair of any standing, special, joint or sub-committee may not take such action. The Committee may only decide to report these offences to the House.