1994 Legislative Session: 3rd Session, 35th Parliament
The following electronic version is for informational purposes only.
The printed version remains the official version.
No. 4
OF THE
Wednesday, March 16, 1994
Two o'clock p.m.
Prayers by Mr. Garden.
On the motion of Mr. Schreck, Bill (No. M 201) intituled Lobbying Disclosure Act 1994 was introduced, read a first time, and Ordered to be placed on the Orders of the Day for second reading at the next sitting after today.
On the motion of Mr. Evans, Bill (No. M 202) intituled Whistle Blowers' Protection Act was introduced, read a first time, and Ordered to be placed on the Orders of the Day for second reading at the next sitting after today.
On the motion of Mr. Mitchell, Bill (No. M 203) intituled An Act to Elect the Speaker by Closed Ballot was introduced, read a first time, and Ordered to be placed on the Orders of the Day for second reading at the next sitting after today.
On the motion of Ms. Lord, Bill (No. M 204) intituled Public Participation Act was introduced, read a first time, and Ordered to be placed on the Orders of the Day for second reading at the next sitting after today.
On the motion of Mr. Lortie, Bill (No. M 205) intituled Retailing of Insurance Act was introduced, read a first time, and Ordered to be placed on the Orders of the Day for second reading at the next sitting after today.
On the motion of Ms. Hammell, Bill (No. M 206) intituled An Act to Designate a Provincial Heritage Site at the Inaugural Plantation at Green Timbers was introduced, read a first time, and Ordered to be placed on the Orders of the Day for second reading at the next sitting after today.
On the motion of Mr. Krog, Bill (No. M 207) intituled Libel and Slander Act Amendment Act, 1994 was introduced, read a first time, and Ordered to be placed on the Orders of the Day for second reading at the next sitting after today.
Order called for "Oral Questions by Members."
The Hon. E. Cull (Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations) tabled the Report of the Vancouver Stock Exchange & Securities Regulation Commission.
Mr. Mitchell asked leave, pursuant to Standing Order 35, to move adjournment of the House to discuss a definite matter of urgent public importance, namely, the confidence of the Legislative Assembly in the Chair.
The Speaker ruled that the matter did not fall within the guidelines for urgency, and drew the member's attention to Standing Order 35 (10) d.
Mr. Farrell-Collins sought leave to move pursuant to Standing Order 37 that the member for West Vancouver-Garibaldi now be heard.
The Speaker ruled the motion out of order on the grounds that Standing Order 37 was not applicable to the circumstances presently before the House.
Ms. Tyabji asked leave to move a motion of confidence in the Chair.
The Speaker ruled it was not competent for the member to seek leave to move the motion unless the House was embarked on the business of motions.
The House proceeded to "Orders of the Day."
Order called for Motion No. 1 on the Order Paper.
Mr. Mitchell rose on a point of order namely that the motion anticipated Bill No. M 205, which had been introduced today.
The Speaker ruled that the rule against anticipation did not apply in the case at hand.
Mr. Farrell-Collins rose on a point of order, namely, that the motion purporting to amend Standing Order 11 was out of order, as Standing Order 11 had been repealed.
The Speaker ruled that the intent of the motion was to insert a new Standing Order 11 and the motion was in order.
Speaker
11. (1) The House at its first Session of a Parliament, and at any other time as determined pursuant to Standing Order 11 (2) shall make the election of Speaker the first order of business, which shall not be interrupted by any other proceedings.
(2) Where there is, or is to be, a vacancy in the Office of Speaker whether at the opening of a Parliament, or because the incumbent of that office has indicated his or her intention to resign the Office of Speaker, or for any other reason, the House shall proceed to elect one of its Members to be Speaker.
(3) No Minister of the Crown shall be eligible for election to the Office of Speaker.
(4) The election of a Speaker shall take precedence over all other business and no Motion of any kind shall be accepted, and the House shall continue to sit, if necessary, beyond its ordinary hour of daily adjournment, until a Speaker is elected and is installed in the Chair and if the House has continued to sit beyond its ordinary hour of daily adjournment, the Speaker shall thereupon adjourn the House until the next sitting, unless otherwise ordered.
11. (a) (1) For the purpose of electing a Speaker, the Clerk of the House, or in the absence of the Clerk, the Deputy Clerk or a Clerk Assistant, shall administer the election process and shall preside during the election of a Speaker.
(2) During the election of a Speaker, the Clerk of the House, Deputy Clerk or Clerk Assistant shall not be permitted to entertain any question of privilege or point of order.
(3) During the election of a Speaker, there shall be no debate.
11. (b) The election of a Speaker shall be conducted by secret ballot as follows:
(1) Any Member who does not wish to be considered for election to the Office of Speaker shall advise the Clerk of the House in writing no later than 6:00 o'clock p.m. on the day preceding the day in which the election of a Speaker is expected to take place.
(2) Before the taking of the first ballot, the Clerk of the House shall fix in the lobby an alphabetical list of candidates and shall distribute that list to Members present in the Chamber.
(3) Members present in the Chamber shall be provided with ballot papers by the Clerk of the House.
(4) Members wishing to indicate their choice for the Office of Speaker shall print the first and last name of a Member on the ballot paper and shall deposit their completed ballot papers in a box provided for that purpose at the Table.
(5) Once all Members wishing to do so have deposited their ballot paper, the vote shall be counted by the Clerks at the Table who, for this purpose, shall retire from the Chamber. The Clerk of the House, being satisfied as to the accuracy of the count, shall destroy the ballots together with all records of the number of ballots cast for each candidate, and all those persons present will in no way divulge the number of ballots cast for any candidate.
(6) If one candidate receives a majority of the votes cast, the Clerk of the House shall announce in the Chamber the name of that Member as Speaker.
(7) If no candidate receives a majority of the votes cast, the name of the candidate having the least number of total votes shall be excluded from subsequent ballots.
(8) If every candidate receives the same number of votes, no name shall be excluded from the next ballot.
(9) For each subsequent ballot, the Clerk of the House shall prepare an alphabetical list of candidates and affix that list in the lobbies, and distribute it to Members present in the Chamber.
(10) Subsequent ballots shall be conducted in the manner prescribed above, and the balloting shall continue, in like manner, until such time as a candidate is elected Speaker upon having received a majority of the votes cast.
(11) At any time after the result of the first ballot has been declared, but before the commencement of a second or subsequent ballot, a candidate may withdraw from the election, which shall then proceed as if such Member has not been nominated.
(12) If only one Member stands for election to Office of Speaker, or at any stage a withdrawal pursuant to the above rules leaves only one candidate remaining, the Clerk of the House shall announce in the Chamber that candidate's name and without any vote declare that Member to be elected Speaker.
(13) The election of a Speaker shall not be considered to be a question of confidence in the Government.
A debate arose.
Mr. Gingell sought to move an amendment to Standing Order 68.
The Speaker ruled that the amendment was not relevant to the matter under discussion.
During the debate, Mr. Weisgerber advised the Chair of his intention to raise a matter of privilege.
Mr. Anderson moved the following amendment, namely, That Section 11 (2) of the Motion before this Legislative Assembly be amended by the deletion of the words "or for any other reason" and the insertion of the following therefor:
"the Speaker has passed away or the House has passed a Motion of non- confidence in the Speaker".
The debate on the amendment continued.
By leave, Mr. Mitchell tabled a copy of a letter addressed to Honourable Michael Harcourt, Premier.
The debate on the amendment continued.
On the motion of Mr. Jarvis, the debate was adjourned to the next sitting of the House.
And then the House adjourned at 5.53 p.m.
JOAN SAWICKI, Speaker
NOTICE OF MOTIONS
Friday Next
Mr. Weisgerber to introduce a Bill intituled Free Votes Enabling Act, 1994.
Mr. Weisgerber to introduce a Bill intituled Initiative Act, 1994.
Mr. Weisgerber to introduce a Bill intituled Recall Act, 1994.
Mr. Neufeld to introduce a Bill intituled Fixed Election Dates Act, 1994.
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