Ah, the Standing Orders. A document of nearly 40 pages, containing ancient procedures and practices dating back to the establishment of the Parliament of England in the 13th century CE. If this seems a bit intimidating to you, don’t worry — that is a perfectly natural reaction for new and returning members alike.
It’s a fascinating read if you want to learn the whole thing; however, you definitely won’t need to understand anywhere near all of it; it’s definitely fine to learn along the way. However, if you’re wanting a bit of a head start with understanding the Standing Orders, here are some of the key Standing Orders that you are more likely encounter during debate.
SO 5: Standing for the Speaker
At the start of each Sitting, the Sergeant-At-Arms will shout, “Make way for the Honourable Speaker!” This signifies that the Speaker is about to take their seat before the House. At the end of each Sitting or before the House dissolves into the Committee of the Whole, someone would motion “that the Speaker do now leave the chair.”
In both cases, the Speaker is in on their way in or out of the Chamber, so you would have to stand as the Speaker enters or leaves. When in doubt, when everyone seems to be standing up, stand! The same applies to the Deputy Speaker: they would enter after the Speaker leaves before the Committee of the Whole, and the motion that they leave the chair would be made at the end of the Committee of the Whole.
SO 9 & 35: Points of Order
If any of the Standing Orders are not met, the Speaker must decide on how to address it. If you catch one of those instances, you can bring it to the Speaker’s attention by standing and calling out, “Honourable Speaker, on a Point of Order!” and explaining the situation.
SO 14: Divisions
For efficiency, most votes are done by voice: the Speaker asks those in favour to say “aye” and those opposed to say “nay”, sometimes together and sometimes separately, and uses the amount of noise on either side to determine the vote. However, this is sometimes inaccurate, and if you wish to dispute the Speaker’s decision, you can indicate so by standing up right after the vote. If five different people stand up at the same time, the House would enter Division: a careful revote to make sure the results are accurate.
In a Division, the Clerks will enter the Chamber, and everyone must stay silent. Those in favour and those opposed would stand up in turn, and the Clerks would count each individual vote to get an accurate result for the Speaker. Note that this is a very time-consuming procedure that is best saved for substantial votes such as amendments, Private Members’ Resolutions, or whole bills.
SO 15: Don’t Just Walk Anywhere
When the Speaker is in the middle of putting a question (i.e. asking for a vote), don’t walk out of the Chamber or make noise to keep things orderly — wait until the vote ends before getting water or whatever you needed to do.
Unless it’s to raise a Point of Order, don’t interrupt the person who is speaking. This includes walking across the line of sight between the Speaker and the speaking member — find a way around. This rule comes from how members are technically directing all speeches at the Speaker, so it would be disruptive to walk through an active conversation.
Don’t walk between the chair and the mace because the Speaker should always have an eye on the mace, which represents the authority of the Crown.
SO 16: Parliamentary Dress
In your acceptance packages, you will find a document that lists out what type of attire is appropriate in the House — the most common choice is business formal attire. Your Parliamentary dress must be worn in the House at all times.
We understand that not all of you have easy access to such attire, so if following this Standing Order presents any difficulty, get in contact with Rhonda to help work out a solution.
SO 26: Orders of the Day
If you would like to see the rough structure of each Sitting, this is a good Standing Order to read.
SO 28: Amending the Order Paper
The Orders of the Day can be changed, although it’s strongly advised to check with Cabinet to see if there may be a clash of plans.
SO 31: Ending the Sittings
The Attorney General will adjourn each sitting with a motion.
SO 32: Standing Up? We Love Standing Up!
Except in cases of physical disability or religious observance, stand up and call out, “Honourable Speaker!” when you wish to speak.
SO 37: Missed a Question?
As long as it doesn’t interrupt someone’s speech, you are allowed to ask the Speaker to reread a motion or other question. This usually happens when a motion or amendment is followed by a long debate, when Members start to forget the wording of the original motion.
SO 38(1) & (2): Be Polite
You must use civil language when talking to or about other members, and you must not speak disrespectfully of the Crown in the House.
SO 38(3): My Name is James
When referring to a Member of the House, including the Speaker, you must not refer to them by name. Instead, refer to them using their title or their constituency. You would not ask Ranil Prasad a question; instead, you would ask the Premier a question.
This practice originated from when the Parliament of England was an illegal entity attempting to undermine the King. In order to protect Members from getting arrested and executed, Members of Parliament would only refer to each other in this way; this would keep the transcripts free of information that could endanger their lives.
SO 39: Votes End Debate
When a vote passes, you are no longer allowed to debate on that vote unless you wish to have the motion be revoked and voted upon again. This helps prevent individual motions from taking forever to complete; you will have your chance to debate it before it passes.
SO 41: Speaking Only Once
For all questions, you are only allowed to speak once unless you are the mover of that question. If you are the mover of the question, you are allowed to make the first and last speech; therefore, this is the order of speaking:
The mover of the motion speaks
Other members speak one time each
The mover of the motion speaks, after which the question is put.
Questions are not limited to just motions — First, Second, and Third Readings of bills are considered questions as well, and Private Members’ Resolutions also fall under this rule because their debate takes part because of a motion.
The exception to the rule is debate during Committee of the Whole, where you can speak as many times as you wish.
SO 42: Points of Clarification
As long as you do not interrupt a speech, you can raise a Point of Clarification if you need clarification on procedure or the substance of a debate. This point is used for clarification, and not inserting your own speech.
SO 43: Repetition
Avoid being repetitive as best as you can.
SO 44: Debatable and Undebatable Motions
If you wish to find out which types of motions permit debate and which do not, this is a good Standing Order to read.
SO 45: Motion Slips
Almost all motions require writing it down on a motion slip — if you want one for amendments, moving a PMR, refocusing debate, etc., see if Cabinet or Shadow Cabinet has one for you. You need someone else to second your motion for a few specific motion, but you can make most motions by yourself. Once you are finished writing your motion, stand up and call out, “Honourable Speaker, on a motion!” and then pass it down the row of desks towards the chair. The Speaker or Deputy Speaker will prioritize your motion over the debate that is happening.
Side note: the motion that the Speaker or Chair do now leave the chair is the only motion that does not require a motion slip, and anyone can make this motion. Race your peers to stand up first, and you might be the one who gets to make this motion!
SO 49 & 50: Repeating Motions
If a motion fails, you are not allowed to make the exact same motion again for the remainder of the Session, although you can re-move a motion that failed in Committee stage once Parliament reconvenes as the House. However, the House can vote to rescind a motion that passed, after which the nullified motion can be made again.
Side note: it is a long-standing practice to avoid knocking on desks if a motion fails — this is a gesture of respect for the mover of the motion. By all means, celebrate motions that pass!
SO 51: Debates on Motions
When a motion is being debated, that should be the Parliament’s top priority; therefore, all irrelevant motions should wait until the question is put on the debated motion, although motions to amend the debated motion as well as motions concerning the sitting (such as adjourning it) would still be allowed.
SO 53: Moving that the Question Be Now Put
If you feel that the debate on any motion is becoming tediously lengthy, repetitive or unproductive, you can move “that the question be now put”. If the Speaker or Deputy Speaker shares the same opinion, they would ask the House to vote on that motion; if it passes, the original motion being debated is voted upon immediately. Here’s a cure to circular debate!
SO 54: Question Period?
This is a part of each sitting that many members look forward to! For 15 minutes at the start of each sitting, members can ask questions to House Leaders or Cabinet. If you have a burning question to ask, this is your chance! You are also permitted to ask up to two supplementaries — relevant follow-up questions — to the recipient of your original question, which the Speaker will prioritize over other questions.
Question Period always becomes a lively time, so seize every moment to enjoy and participate in it! Hint: SO 54(a) is, deliberately, never enforced.
SO 55: Members’ Statements
Have something — anything — you want to share with the members but can’t quite find a fitting time during the regular proceedings? Here’s your chance to present a monologue to the rest of the members!
At the start of the first sitting of each day, there will be an opportunity for members to present statements; one person can make a reply if desired. Note that there is a short time limit for each statement, so make your message concise! Also, your statement should be irrelevant to the regular proceedings of the House — if it isn’t, it would be best to bring up your points when the appropriate time comes in debate.
To present a statement, you must first notify the Speaker of the House before 10:00 pm the previous day.
SO 57: Basics of the Committee of the Whole
Even though Parliament is not in a full sitting during Committee of the Whole, the Standing Orders still apply.
In Committee of the Whole, you can speak as many times as needed when the Committee is debating lines of the bill. However, once debate on a motion (most likely one to amend a line) arises, the one-speech-each rule reapplies until the Committee returns to debating lines. Note that the mover of an amendment motion will not get to make a second speech.
The Committee of the Whole is part of the committee stage of the Westminster Parliamentary process, where the Speaker of the House does not preside over the House; instead, the Committee of the Whole has a Chair, who is the Deputy Speaker by default. When standing up to speak during the Committee of the Whole, you would call out “Honourable Chair!” instead of “Honourable Speaker!”.
SO 60: Amending the Budget
When we debate BCYP’s budget as part of the Supply Act, you will only be able to amend the budget by reducing expenses; the budget cannot be increased except by Cabinet’s Orders in Council after Session.
SO 78 – 82: Private Members’ Resolutions
These Standing Orders deal with Private Members’ Resolutions (PMRs), which when passed, express an opinion of Parliament as a whole. To bring a PMR to the House for debate, you need to move your PMR in a motion slip, and you need one other member to second your motion. When a PMR is brought to the House for debate, the House has 45 minutes to debate; the mover of the resolution gets the first and last speeches, the seconder gets the second speech, and all other members are allowed to make one speech each.
Note that amendments to a PMR are not allowed to change its core intent; for instance, significantly amending the title of a PMR would not be allowed. In general, amendments are only made to the communication clause if you feel that a particular person should or should not receive the passed resolution; otherwise, if you disagree with a PMR, the standard would be to voice your opinion and then vote in the negative.
SO 85: Suspending the Standing Orders
Parts of the Standing Orders can be suspended to allow for various things not normally authorized; however, this requires unanimous consent of every member. As is BCYP tradition, certain Standing Orders will be suspended on the last day to make part of the last sitting more fun — no spoilers here!
Pages 16 – 24: Script for the Oaths of Office, Formal Opening and Prorogation Ceremony
Feeling lost in these ceremonies? No worries! You are encouraged to follow along with the script to know what’s going on.
Pages 25 – 29: Script for Regular Proceedings
Chances are, the barrage of motions that regularly occur during Parliament’s proceedings will be confusing. You can follow along with this script to know what’s going on, and see where you can take part in the formal procedure of the House!
Pages 30 – 33: Other Useful Information
Here, you can see what the Orders of the Day typically look like, read some important definitions, and see a flowchart for the process a bill undergoes before becoming law. Have a read!
There’s absolutely no need to memorize the Standing Orders, or even the ones I have highlighted in this post. However, the world of Parliamentary procedure is a wondrous journey where learning never ends. If you ever have any questions, I or many of the returning members would be happy to chat with you about procedure!
Yours in Parliament,
Joseph Chien
Edit, December 23, 2020: A prior version of this post stated that motions made during the Committee of the Whole were subject to the rule giving each Member a maximum of one speech. This is, in fact, false, and has been corrected.