House of Commons.

• Author: Thomas Hall

When the Leader of the Opposition, Michel Gauthier, opened debate on a supply day opposition motion on May 16, he announced that he was splitting the speaking time for Members of his party. This meant that the second speaker on the motion would also be a member of the Bloc Quebecois and that he or she could move an amendment. Consequently, the Government raised a point of order to question whether this was an appropriate application of Standing Order 43(2) which allows a Member's 20-minute speaking time to be shared with another Member of the same party. The Acting Speaker, Bob Kilger, later reminded the House that it had become common practice for Members to share the first speech on supply days and that there had been other occasions when speakers who were sharing their time had each moved a motion. He then ruled that it was in accordance with the Standing Orders and with practice for the mover to share speaking time with another Member, who could then propose an amendment. He concluded by suggesting that the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs could review the wording of the Standing Orders if the House objected to this way of proceeding.

On June 18 the Speaker ruled on the point of order raised by Ray Speaker on May 9 regarding a non-votable private Member's motion standing in the name of Don Boudria. That motion accused Ray Speaker of attempting to put pressure on the Speaker to recognize the Reform Party as the Official Opposition and declared that Mr. Speaker's actions were a contempt of Parliament. The Speaker ruled that such a motion was procedurally acceptable under the rules for Private Members' Business and that the Chair did not have the authority to make the motion votable. He further pointed out that there were "procedures at the disposal of the House to ensure that a sense of fair play prevails in all its proceedings". Ray Speaker immediately raised a question of privilege which, if found prima facie, would provide a way of resolving the charge made against him by permitting the matter to come to a vote. He argued that allowing the charge to remain unresolved would seriously affect his reputation. After hearing from other Members, the Speaker reserved his decision. When he returned to the question on June 20, the Speaker reminded the House that motions regarding the conduct of Members had in the past been placed on the Order Paper under Private Members' Business without ever being voted on by the House...