Debate is not a sin, a mistake, an error
or something to be put up with in parliament. Debate is the essence of
parliament.
Stanley Knowles, m.p. (Winnipeg North Centre)
(Debates, December 10, 1968, p. 3763)
F
rom time to time either because of certain
parliamentary events or because of some urgency, the House will put aside its
normal way of conducting debate in the House to consider matters that are
governed by special rules. These rules are found in the Standing Orders in a
chapter entitled “Special Debates”. Included in this chapter are
rules pertaining to the debate on the Address in Reply to the Speech from the
Throne (also known as the Throne Speech Debate), emergency debates, debates to
suspend certain Standing Orders to consider urgent matters, and the debate to
take note of the Standing Orders. These debates and the related Standing Orders
are examined here.
Also examined in this chapter are two other
types of debates which are not specifically provided for in the Standing Orders,
but whose proceedings are sometimes circumscribed by special procedures. On
occasion, the government has initiated debates on a number of issues to allow
Members to express their views prior to a decision being taken by the
government. This has particularly been the case since the beginning of the
Thirty-Fifth Parliament in 1994. These debates have been labelled “take
note” debates. In addition, statutory debates occasionally take place in
the House. A statutory debate occurs when a statute has included provisions for
a debate on the floor of the House with regard to an order, regulation,
declaration, guideline or other instrument of delegated
legislation.