Since 1964, the Standing Orders have allowed for proceedings on the adjournment motion. Under the current Standing Orders, the motion to adjourn is deemed to be moved at 6:30 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. (On Fridays the Speaker adjourns the House without question put.) This adjournment motion is used as a vehicle for brief exchanges on predetermined topics, each of which can be considered for no more than six minutes. These proceedings can take up to 30 minutes, at which time the motion to adjourn is deemed to have been carried. Any time spent considering the future business of the House is not counted as part of these 30 minutes.
Adjournment notices are submitted by Members dissatisfied with a reply received in Question Period or following the expiry of the 45 day limit on written questions. Notices arising out of Question Period must be submitted in writing within the hour following Question Period on the day the question was asked if they are to be considered for the adjournment proceedings that day or at some future day. Those arising out of "Questions on Order Paper" require oral notice only. The subject-matter of the exchanges is selected by the Speaker from notices given by Members, and at not later than 5:00 p.m. the Speaker announces which subjects will be considered during that day's adjournment proceedings. In making the selection, the Speaker considers the order in which notices were given, the urgency of the matters raised and the apportioning of the opportunities to discuss such matters among the Members of the various parties in the House.
During the adjournment proceedings, a Member raising a matter has up to four minutes to speak; a Minister or a Parliamentary Secretary is allowed up to two minutes to reply. As during the Question Period, the Speaker will not normally allow questions of privilege or points of order to be considered during these proceedings, although the Chair may always entertain questions concerning unparliamentary language. Adjournment proceedings are suspended for that sitting whenever any specified business is to be continued beyond the ordinary time of adjournment or when any such business is to be disposed of or concluded. When a sitting is continued due to a ministerial statement, adjournment proceedings are merely delayed.
