SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

Dan Mazier

  • Member of Parliament
  • Member of Parliament
  • Conservative
  • Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa
  • Manitoba
  • Voting Attendance: 67%
  • Expenses Last Quarter: $138,707.52

  • Government Page
  • May/16/23 6:49:08 p.m.
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  • Re: Bill C-21 
Mr. Speaker, in 1985, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the requirements of section 133 of the Constitution Act, 1867, and of section 23 of the Manitoba Act, 1870, respecting the use of both the English and French languages in the records and Journals of the House of Parliament of Canada, are mandatory and must be obeyed. Accordingly, the House can no longer depart from its own code of procedure when considering procedure entrenched in the Constitution. On page 295 of the second edition of Joseph Maingot's Parliamentary Privilege in Canada, in reference to the 1985 case, Maingot lists those constitutional requirements regarding parliamentary procedure that must be obeyed. In that list, he includes section 48, which deals with the quorum of the House of Commons. Since the special order restricts the calling of quorum, and since calling of quorum is the only means by which quorum can be established during a sitting, in essence, the special order waives the Constitutional requirement of quorum. As the Speaker and their predecessors have reminded this House countless times, and I am sure the Supreme Court justices will agree, one cannot do indirectly what one cannot do directly. In the event that Bill C-21
205 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
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