PART I INTERPRETATION 1. (1) In all cases not provided for in these rules, the customs, usages, forms and proceedings of either House of the Parliament of Canada shall, mutatis mutandis, be followed in the Senate or in any committee thereof. (2) The Rules of the Senate shall in all cases be interpreted as having priority over any practice, custom or usage described in any of the appendices to the rules. Any conflict between the appendices and the rules shall be resolved by reference to the rules alone. 2. Except so far as is expressly provided, these rules shall in no way restrict the mode in which the Senate may exercise and uphold its powers, privileges and immunities. 3. Notwithstanding anything in these rules, any rule or part thereof may be suspended without notice by leave of the Senate, the rule or part thereof proposed to be suspended, and the reason for the proposed suspension, being distinctly stated. 4. In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires: (1) Adjournment Ordinary daily hour of adjournment means the time provided in these rules, or as otherwise provided by order of the Senate, for the adjournment of the Senate. (2) Bills Bill means a draft Act of Parliament and includes a private and a public bill; (3) Committee (a) Committee means a committee of the whole, a select committee, whether standing, special or legislative, or a joint committee; (b) Committee of the Whole means a committee composed of the whole body of the Senators; (c) Joint Committee means a committee composed of members of the Senate and of the House of Commons; (d) Select Committee means a committee composed of less than the whole body of Senators and includes both a standing committee and a special committee; (e) Special Committee means a select committee, other than a standing committee, appointed to consider certain matters and to report thereon to the Senate; (f) Standing Committee means a select committee appointed to consider and to report to the Senate on matters falling within the duties specifically assigned to it by these rules, and on other matters that may from time to time be referred to it by the Senate. (4) Inquiry Inquiry means the procedure whereby a Senator, after giving notice in accordance with rules 56 and 57, calls the attention of the Senate to a particular matter for the purpose of informing the Senate of that matter or having it considered or examined by the Senate. (5) Leader (a) Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate and Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate mean the Senators occupying, respectively, the recognized positions of Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate and Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate or Senators acting for these Senators; (b) Government Leader in the Senate means the Senator occupying the recognized position of the Leader of the Government in the senate or a Senator acting for that Senator; (c) Leader of the Opposition means the Senator occupying the recognized position of Leader of the Opposition in the Senate of a Senator acting for that Senator. (6) Leave Leave of the Senate means leave granted without a dissenting voice. (7) Motions, Notices of Motions and Questions (a) Motion means a proposal made by a Senator that the Senate or a committee thereof do something, order something to be done, or express and opinion concerning some matter; (b) One day's notice means a notice given on any sitting day for a motion or inquiry to be made on the next succeeding sitting day; (c) Question , except in respect of the question period and a question of privilege, means a proposal presented to the Senate or a committee thereof by the Speaker of Chairman for consideration and disposal in some manner; (d) Previous question means a motion that the original question be not put ; (e) Substantive motion means an independent motion neither incidental to nor relating to a proceeding or order of the day already before the Senate; (f) Two day's notice means a notice where a sitting day intervenes between the day on which the notice is given and the day on which the motion or inquiry is made. (8) Ordered Ordered by the Senate or any expression of like import means ordered by majority decision. (9) Person (a) Person authorized to be on the floor of the Senate Chamber while the Senate is sitting means any person so authorized by order of the Senate, Act of Parliament, delegated legislative authority of by custom and practice of the Senate; (b) Person or any word or expression descriptive of a person, includes any body corporate or politic, and the heirs, executors, administrators or legal representative of such person, and words importing male or female persons include persons of either gender. (10) Petitions Petition means a written prayer presented to the Senate, and includes all petitions whether relating to public or privatematters, matters of general policy, or to redress of local or personal grievances. (11) Proceedings Intermediate Proceeding means any item which would be recorded in the Journals of the Senate. (12) Rule Rule means any standing rule or standing order of the Senate. (13) Shall Shall is to be construed as imperative, and may as permissive. (14) Sittings (a) Meeting of the Senate means the times set out in these rules, or as otherwise ordered, for the Senate to meet for the transaction of business; (b) Writing, written, or any term of like import includes words printed, typewritten, painted, engraved, lithographed, photographed, or represented or reproduced by any mode of representing or reproducing words in a visible form. PART II SITTINGS OF THE SENATE 5. (1) Unless otherwise previously ordered, (a) Except as provided in sub-paragraph (b) below, the Senate shall meet for the transaction of business at 2:00 o'clock in the afternoon; (b) On a Friday, the Senate shall meet for the transaction of business at 9:00 o'clock in the forenoon. (2) Not later than fifteen munutes prior to the times provided in section (1) above, the bells to call in the Senators shall be sounded and shall cease when a quorum is seen. (3) At the times provided in section (1) above, the Speaker shall enter the Senate Chameber, whether a quorum is then present or not. (4) As soon as a quorum is seen the Speaker shall forthwith proceed to prayers. 6. (1) Except as otherwise provided in these rules or as previously ordered by the Senate, if the Senate is sitting at 12:00 o'clock midnight, the Speaker shall interrupt any proceeding then before the Senate and shall declare that a motion to adjourn the Senate has been deemed to have been moved and adopted and shall leave the Chair until the time provided for the next meeting of the Senate. (2) Except as otherwise provided in these rules or as otherwise ordered by the Senate, if the Senate is sitting at 4:00 o'clock in the afternoon on a Friday, the Speaker shall interrupt any proceeding than before the Senate and shall declare that a motion to adjourn has been deemed to have been moved and adopted and leave the Chair until the time provided for the next meeting of the Senate. (3) Any item of Government Business as provided in rule 26(1) which was under consideration when the Senate adjourned in accordance with the provisions of sections (1) and (2) above, shall be deemed to have been adjourned and shall be placed on the Orders of the Day for the next sitting of the Senate. (4) Any item of Other Business as provided in rule 26(2), that was under consideration when the Senate adjourned in accordance with the provisions of section (1) above, shall be deemed to have been adjourned and shall be placed for the next sitting of the consideration of Other Business . 7. (1) When a standing vote has been deferred, pursuant to rule 67(1), and is to be held during a sitting at 5:30 o'clock p.m., if the Senate completes its business on that day before this time, no motion to adjourn the Senate shall be received until after the deferred vote has been taken and business pursuant thereto has been completed. (2) When the Senate has completed its business for that day prior to the time for the taking of a deferred vote, the Speaker shall suspend the sitting until 5:15 o'clock p.m., whereupon the bells to call in the Senators shall be sounded until 5:30 o'clock p.m. and the Speaker shall proceed to take the deferred vote in accordance with the provisions of rules 65(3) and 67(1). 8. On the first day of each session of Parliament, a bill is read pro forma and the Speech from the Throne is reported by the Speaker. 9. (1) A quorum, consisting of fifteen Senators, including the speaker, shall be required for the Senate to transact business. (2) During any sitting of the Senate, when a senator draws the attention of the Senate to the possible lack of quorum, the Speaker: (a) all cause the Senators who may be in the adjoining rooms to be summoned; and (b) if no quorum is seen within five minutes, shall order the bells to call in the Senators to be sounded for not more than fifteen minutes. (3) If no quorum is seen after the time provided in sub-paragraph (2)(b) above, the Speaker shall adjourn the senate until the next sitting day without the question being put. (4) Except if the item before the Senate is a motion moved in accordance with rule 61(1), the item of business under consideration when the Speaker adjourns the Senate pursuant to section (3) above, shall be placed on the Orders of the Day for consideration at the next sitting of the Senate. 10. Whenever the Speaker, from illness or other cause, finds it necessary to leave the Chair during any part of the sitting or any day, the Speaker may call upon any Senator to take the Chair and preside as Speaker during the remainder of such day, or until the Speaker resumes the Chair before the end of the sitting for that day. 11. Whenever the Senate is informed by the Clerk at the Table of the unavoidable absence of the Speaker, the Senator chosen by the Senate under rule 85(a) to preside as Speaker pro tempore, as the case may be, resumes the Chair. 12. Every act done by any Senator, acting as aforesaid, shall have the same effect and validity as if the act where done by the Speaker. 13. (1) Except as provided in section (2) below, and elsewhere in these rules, if, at 6:00 o'clock in the afternoon, the business be not concluded, the Speaker or the Chairman of the Committee leaves the Chair until 8:00 o'clock, the Mace being left on or under the Table, as the case may be. (2) If at the time provided in section (1) above, a standing vote has been ordered, the Speaker or the Chairman shall not leave the Chair until such standing vote has been taken and any formal business immediately consequent thereon has been completed. 14. Unless otherwise ordered, when the Senate adjourns on Friday, it shall stand adjourned until the Monday following. 15. (1) A motion to adjourn the Senate, unless otherwise prohibited in these rules or unless otherwise ordered by the senate, shall always be in order. (2) A motion to adjourn the Senate can only be moved when the Senator moving the motion has the floor to speak to a question before the Senate and not on a point of order. (3) When a motion is moved, in accordance with provisions of sections (1) and (2) above, the Speaker shall put the question forthwith without debate or amendment. (4) Any standing vote, requested pursuant to rule 65(3), in relation to any motion moved in accordance with sections (1) and (2) above, shall not be deferred but shall be taken in accordance with the provisions of rule 66(1). (5) If the Senate resolves in the negative on a motion moved pursuant to section (2) above, no second motion to the same effect shall be received until some intermediate proceeding has taken place. 16. When the Senate adjourns, Senators shall stand until the Speaker has left the Chamber. 17. (1) During any adjournment of the Senate, if the Speaker is satisfied that the public interest requires that the Senate meet at an earlier time that that provided in the motion for such adjournment, the Speaker may call such a meeting. In so doing the Speaker shall send a notice by the most effective method of communication to each Senator with the Clerk of the Senate and to the SenatorÕs office in Ottawa. Such notice shall indicate the time of the meeting of the Senate and the purpose. (2) During any adjournment of the Senate, if the Speaker is satisfied that the public interest does not require the Senate to meet at the time provided in the order of adjournment the Speaker shall: (a) consult the Leader of the Government in the Senate and the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, or, in each case, their designate; (b) determine an appropriate date for the next sitting of the Senate; and (c) cause to be sent a notice to each Senator, at the address last filed by the Senator with the Clerk of the Senate and to the Senator's office in Ottawa, setting out the time of the next sitting of the Senate. (3) Non-receipt by a Senator of the notices referred to in subsections (1) and (2) does not affect the validity of the notice. (4) In the absence of the Speaker, or when the office of the Speaker is vacant, the Clerk of the Senate may act for the purposes of this rule.