The House and its Members / Resignation of a Member

Announcement of a resignation in the House: proper procedure

November 27, 2018

Debates, p. 24039

On November 27, 2018, during Oral Questions, Peter Kent (Thornhill) asked a question about the investigation being conducted by the RCMP into the gambling activities of the Member for Brampton East (Raj Grewal).^[1] In her response, Bardish Chagger (Leader of the Government in the House of Commons) said that, given the circumstances, Mr. Grewal’s decision to resign from the House was the right one. Pierre Paul-Hus (Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles) suggested that the Prime Minister had misled the House when he said that Mr. Grewal had resigned, because Mr. Grewal was still an active member in the House. After Oral Questions, Mark Strahl (Chilliwack—Hope) rose on a point of order to ask the Speaker to clarify the procedure for informing the House of a member’s resignation. Mr. Strahl cited a media report, which revealed that Mr. Grewal had informed the Chief Government Whip that he intended to leave, effective immediately.

Resolution

The Speaker ruled immediately. He said that a Member can resign by standing in the House or by delivering a written declaration to the Speaker, signed by two witnesses. The Chair then informs the House that the member has resigned. The Speaker informed the House that he had not received such a letter in the case at hand.

Statement of the Chair

The Speaker: I thank the hon. members for Chilliwack—Hope and Skeena—Bulkley Valley for raising this point of order. Of course, a member may resign by standing in the House and resigning. However, let me refer members to page 252 of the House of Commons Procedure and Practice, third edition, which says:

A Member may also resign his or her seat by delivering to the Speaker a written declaration of intention to resign signed before two witnesses. On receiving the declaration, the Speaker addresses a warrant to the Chief Electoral Officer for the issue of a writ for the election of a Member to fill the vacancy.

First, I have not received such a letter. Second, when the Speaker receives the letter, the Speaker then informs the House that the Speaker has informed Elections Canada of the vacancy.

Postscript

Mr. Grewal began sitting as an independent member on December 1, 2018.