Right Hon. C. D. Howe (Minister of Trade and Commerce):

I desire to move, seconded, I hope, by the leader of the opposition (Mr. Drew):

That the address of the President of the French republic, Mr. Vincent Auriol, delivered before the members of the Senate and of the House of Commons of Canada in the chamber of the House of Commons on April 5. 1951, together with the introductory and related speeches, be included in the House of Commons Debates and form part of the records of this parliament.

Mr. Speaker:

I have the honour to lay before the house the first report of the joint committee of both houses on the library of parliament.

Mr. H. W. Winkler (Lisgar) moved:

That the first report of the joint committee of both houses on the library of parliament, presented this day, be concurred in.

Mr. J. S. Sinnott (Springfield):

Mr. Speaker, I desire to move the adjournment of the house -

Mr. Speaker:

Order. If the hon. member is making a motion to adjourn the house under standing order 31, this is not the proper time to do so. Standing order 31 reads as follows:

Leave to make a motion for the adjournment of the house (when made for the purpose of discussing a definite matter of urgent public importance) must be asked after the ordinary daily routine of business (standing order 15) has been concluded and before notices of motions or orders of the day are entered upon.

The question of the proper time at which to make this motion was discussed briefly in the house on November 7, 1949. At that time I pointed out that in my opinion the proper time to make this motion was immediately before notices of motions or orders of the day. I have considered the matter since that time and am of the opinion that if it had been the intention of parliament when this rule was introduced that the motion should be made immediately after routine proceedings, the rule would have stopped there; that is to say, it would have read:

Leave to make a motion for the adjournment of the house (when made for the purpose of discussing a definite matter of urgent public importance) must be asked after the ordinary daily routine of business.

But the rule parliament approved went further and added:

-and before notices of motions or orders of the day are entered upon.

It is clear that the motion is made after the daily routine of business. In my opinion it is equally clear that it should be made immediately before notices of motions or orders of the day. I believe that the reason why the rule was drawn in this way was to make sure that all the business of the house which was not of a controversial nature would be duly attended to. Hon. members know that in the daily routine of business there is little that is debatable. Under questions, there is nothing that is debatable. Again, under notices of motions for the production of papers, there is nothing that is debatable. That is the kind of business that must be disposed of. I therefore rule that the motion to adjourn the house under standing order 31 must be made after the ordinary daily routine of business has been concluded and immediately before notices of motions or orders of the day are entered upon.

Mr. Drew:

Mr. Speaker, I trust that the attempt to introduce the motion which you have declared to be irregular at that time will not in any way change the priority, in view of the fact that I have already indicated to you my intention of presenting a motion for the adjournment of the house at the proper time.

Mr. Speaker:

I concur in what the leader of the opposition (Mr. Drew) has said. The leader of the opposition has already sent me written notice that he proposes to move the adjournment of the house under standing

Cost of Living

order 31. I should probably add that an intimation was made to me by the hon. member for Winnipeg North Centre (Mr. Knowles) that the leader of his party, the hon. member for Rosetown-Biggar (Mr. Cold-well), would also introduce a motion to this effect. Under the circumstances, I think I should decide now that when the time comes for making this motion, I will see the leader of the opposition.

(The ordinary daily routine of business having been concluded:)

Mr. George A. Drew (Leader of the Opposition):

Mr. Speaker, I ask leave,

seconded by the hon. member for Peel (Mr. Graydon), to move the adjournment of the house under standing order 31 to discuss a definite matter of urgent public importance, namely, the announcement yesterday of the greatest monthly increase in Canadian cost of living during the month of February to the disastrously high level of 179-7 points; and the urgent need for vigorous action by the government and the immediate adoption of such measures as will halt inflation, hold down the cost of living and restore confidence in the Canadian dollar.

Mr. Speaker:

It is my duty to decide whether this motion is in order and also whether it is of urgent public importance. The meaning of urgency as set forth in Beauchesne's third edition, citation 174, is as follows:

"Urgency" within this rule does not apply to the matter itself, but it means "urgency of debate," when the ordinary opportunities provided by the rules of the house do not permit the subject to be brought on early enough . . .

Today being Thursday there can be no debate upon going into supply. Under standing order 28, when such an order is called on a Thursday or Friday, the Speaker leaves the chair without question put. If I thought there would1 be in the immediate future an opportunity to debate this matter, I would not consider it to be urgent within the meaning of the rules. However, I do not at the present time see that there will be an opportunity for discussing this matter in the immediate future.