Chapter 5Parliamentary Procedure

The Standing Orders

The permanent written rules with which the House regulates its proceedings are known as the Standing Orders.³² The continuing or “standing” nature of these rules means that they do not lapse at the end of a session or a Parliament. Rather, they remain in effect until the House itself decides to suspend, change or repeal them. There are at present more than 150 Standing Orders, each of which constitutes a continuing order of the House for the governance and regulation of its proceedings. The detailed description of the legislative process, the role of the Speaker, the nature of the House of Commons calendar and the rules governing the work of committees and Private Members’ Business are some of the topics covered by the Standing Orders. The House declares these continuing orders to be Standing Orders when it formally adopts them, and it periodically issues them as a publication for the guidance and use of all Members. They are also kept up to date and are available in electronic format on the House of Commons website.

When the House of Commons first met in 1867, the rules it adopted were largely those of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada, itself created in 1840.³³ The Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada obtained its rules from the assemblies of Upper and Lower Canada, created in 1791, with the vast majority coming from the House of Assembly of Lower Canada.³⁴ Of the many rules the House of Assembly of Lower Canada adopted in the first years of its existence, particularly in 1793,³⁵ more than 35 have survived virtually unchanged and are still in effect today in the House of Commons, as are a further 31 pre-Confederation rules.³⁶

Since 1867, there have been countless reviews of the Standing Orders.³⁷ New Standing Orders have been adopted, while others have been significantly modified or deleted, leading on occasion to substantial renumbering. Furthermore, interpretations given to the older rules have been adapted over time to fit the modern context.³⁸ Occasionally, the adoption of a new Standing Order represents the codification of a long-standing practice of the House³⁹ or the permanent adoption of a provisional, sessional or special order. At other times, a rule is changed or added as a result of a particular situation,⁴⁰ or following an event which convinced the House to seek a way to avoid its repetition.⁴¹

As an indicator of the importance the House attaches to reviewing the Standing Orders, between the 60th and 90th sitting day of each Parliament, a debate must be held on the following motion: “That this House take note of the Standing Orders and procedures of the House and its committees”.⁴² At the conclusion of this debate, the matter is deemed permanently referred to the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs.⁴³ In addition, the permanent mandate of the Committee⁴⁴ includes “the review of and report on the Standing Orders, procedure and practice in the House and its committees”.⁴⁵ The Committee can recommend changes to the rules as part of its continuing mandate or as the result of a specific order of reference.⁴⁶

On some occasions, a special committee has been established with a mandate to suggest revisions to the rules and to report its recommendations to the House. These recommendations are typically presented to the House in the form of a report, and sometimes considered during debate on a motion to concur in the report. The contents of such reports are sometimes used as the basis for further discussions leading to changes to the rules.⁴⁷

Although the means by which the House reviews the Standing Orders may vary, the Standing Orders may be amended only by a decision of the House. Such a decision is arrived at either as a result of a broad consensus leading to a unanimous or near-unanimous vote, or by a simple majority vote on a motion moved by any Member of the House.⁴⁸ These motions usually take the form of motions to concur in committee reports.⁴⁹

Since 1867, there have been occasions when controversial proposals have led to lengthy debates in which the government has used its majority to amend the Standing Orders.⁵⁰ On many occasions, however, procedural changes have been the result of a broad consensus among Members of all parties and have been readily adopted without debate.⁵¹

Besides the Standing Orders, the House may adopt other types of written rules for limited periods of time. Provisional Standing Orders are individual Standing Orders adopted for a specific period of time which does not necessarily correspond to the duration of a Parliament or a session.⁵² They may be adopted on an experimental basis,⁵³ extended provisionally, dropped, or eventually made permanent.⁵⁴ The House may also adopt sessional orders, which are intended to be temporary and to remain in effect only for the duration of the session in which they are adopted.⁵⁵ Sessional orders may be renewed from session to session, and some eventually become Standing Orders.⁵⁶

In addition to the Standing Orders and provisional and sessional orders which form the collected body of written rules, the House may also adopt special orders. A frequently used instrument for the conduct of House business, special orders temporarily suspend the “written” Standing Orders. Since they routinely concern the business of the House and are often moved without notice, following consultations, they are often adopted by unanimous consent without debate. They may apply to a single occasion or to such period of time as may be specified.⁵⁷ Over time, some special orders have become Standing Orders.⁵⁸

Some Standing Orders explicitly allow the House to suspend the operation of other Standing Orders.⁵⁹ It is also common for the House, at any given time, to set aside its rules with the unanimous consent of all Members then present in the House, so that something can be done which would otherwise be inconsistent with the Standing Orders.⁶⁰ The House does this, for example, when it wants a bill to pass through more than one stage in a sitting, a procedure which would otherwise contravene the rules.⁶¹ Furthermore, the House can adopt a special order to supersede a previously adopted special order.⁶² The Standing Orders also provide for the House to proceed in certain clearly defined situations in which unanimous consent has been denied, but in which the overwhelming majority of Members nevertheless agree to proceed with the action contemplated.⁶³

Finally, two appendices to the Standing Orders help regulate the conduct of Members: Appendix I, Conflict of Interest Code for Members of the House of Commons; and Appendix II, Code of Conduct for Members of the House of Commons: Sexual Harassment.⁶⁴ The application of these codes can, in clearly defined situations, lead to consideration of related events by the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs or by the House itself.⁶⁵

Since the Standing Orders have as their primary purpose the regulation of the conduct of the business of the House of Commons and its Members, they are seen as an exercise of the parliamentary privilege of the House to regulate its own internal affairs.⁶⁶ However, the Constitution Act, 1867 imposes some limits or stipulates certain procedures which must be respected by the Standing Orders, such as quorum, the election of the Speaker and the recording of votes.⁶⁷ Failure to comply with such constitutional provisions could result in business of the House being declared inoperative by the courts. In the case of statutory provisions, the House of Commons endeavours to ensure that its Standing Orders and practices are consistent with statutes while retaining the exclusive jurisdiction to determine whether the provisions of a statute apply to its proceedings.⁶⁸

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