House of Commons.

AuthorSokolyk, Gary
PositionLegislative Reports

The Second Session of the Forty-First Parliament resumed on January 27, 2014. The information below covers the period from February 1 to April 30, 2014.

Legislation

Bill C-23, An Act to amend the Canada Elections Act and other Acts and to make consequential amendments to certain Acts, introduced on February 4, 2014, was the subject of provisions dealing with voter identification requirements, banning Elections Canada from encouraging Canadians to vote and proposing changes to spending limits on fundraising. After being time allocated, the Bill was read the second time and referred to the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs on February 10, 2014. On February 10, 2014, an opposition motion, which sought to instruct the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs as to the manner in which it should consider and report the Bill, was defeated.

An unprecedented situation arose in February with respect to private Member's Bill C-461, An Act to amend the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act (disclosure of information)) sponsored by Brent Rathgeber (Edmonton--St. Albert). The Bill had been reported with amendments by the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics in the last session and reinstated at report stage in the current session. After all recorded divisions had taken place on report stage motions, Mr. Rathgeber informed the Chair that he did not wish either to proceed further with the Bill or to move the motion to concur in the Bill at report stage. Pursuant to Standing Order 94, which allows the Speaker to make all arrangements necessary to ensure the orderly conduct of Private Members' Business, the Speaker ruled that the order for concurrence at report stage be discharged and that the Bill be dropped from the Order Paper.

Financial Procedures

On March 24, 2014, when the House was considering Bill C-29, An Act for granting to Her Majesty certain sums of money for the federal public administration for the financial year ending March 31, 2025, Tony Clement (President of the Treasury Board) announced that, from now on, the form of supply bills would change to present organizations in alphabetical order, as in the 2014-15 Main Estimates, which had led to a change in vote numbering. This change, he said, resulted from comments provided by the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates during its review of estimates and supplies. Mr. Clement stated that the rights and privileges of Members to criticize any item in the estimates when considered in committee would not be curtailed or restricted.

Points of Order, Questions of Privilege and Procedure

Points of Order

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