Routine Proceedings

Introduction

The Standing Orders of the House provide for a daily routine of business during which certain specified proceedings may be carried out when the Chair calls out the appropriate headings. Procedural problems requiring the intervention of the Speaker occasionally arise from the proceedings under these headings.

Reports from committees of the House are tabled under one of the headings of the daily routine of business, while motions to concur in these reports may be moved under the heading "Motions". Since December 1982, committees have been able to request Government responses when tabling their reports. The Speaker may intervene if there is any procedural irregularity involving a report or the Government's response.

For many years prior to February 1986, petitions had been presented to the House during the daily routine of business even though there was no specific heading for this proceeding. The Standing Orders were then revised to include "Presenting Petitions" as a heading and to require that petitions be certified to be in order before being presented, to oblige the Government to table a response to each petition within a set time limit, and to clarify some of the traditional practices governing petitions.