Rules of the Legislative Assembly
ORAL QUESTIONS
41 Questions
Written and oral questions relating to the administrative responsibility of the government or of an individual Minister may be asked of a Minister. In putting a question or replying to it, no argument, opinion or facts shall be stated except so far as is necessary to explain, and the
matter referred to shall not be debated.
42 (1) Oral Questions
Under the item “Oral Questions”, questions relating to the administrative responsibility of the government or of an individual Minister may be put to a Minister.
(2) Questions concise and clear
An oral question shall be concisely and clearly put, and may include a short preamble. An oral question shall refer only to a matter which may reasonably be assumed to be within the present knowledge of the Minister to whom it is directed.
(3 )Minister's response
The Minister may:
a) answer the question in concise and clear fashion; or
b) state that he or she takes the question as notice and answer it orally on a subsequent day under the item “Returns to Oral Questions”; or
c) decline to answer.
(4) Three supplementary questions
When a question is taken as notice, it shall be added to the Orders of the Day under the item “Returns to Oral Questions”. The Speaker may rule out of order, any questions similar in nature to a question which has taken upon as notice on that same day.
(5) When a Minister answers an oral question, only three supplementary questions per Member may be asked. These supplementary questions must be directly related to the same subject.
(6)Time limit
The time allotted for oral questions shall not exceed sixty minutes.
(6) Returns to Oral Questions
A Minister who makes a commitment to provide additional information to a Member during Oral Questions shall table that information in the Assembly at the earliest opportunity.
WRITTEN QUESTIONS
44 (1) Written Questions
Under the item “Written Questions”, written questions may be asked of Ministers. A question which would be likely to require a detailed or complex answer, or which would not reasonably be assumed to be within the present knowledge of the Minister, should be posed as a written question:
(2) Filed with Clerk
All written questions shall be filed with the Clerk, who shall endorse the date of filing and provide copies to all Members.
(3) Conforming to Rules
The Speaker shall ensure that the Written Question conforms to the Rules and practices of the House and may rule a written question out of order.
(4) Structure of question
A Written Question may only contain the one initial question and four supplementary questions.
(5) Number of questions
A Member may only have five Written Questions on the Order Paper at any one time.
RETURNS TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS
45 (1) File reply
A Minister shall provide a Return to a Written Question within 21 calendar days by filing a reply with the Clerk, who shall endorse the date of filing:
a) Extended adjournment
if the 21 calendar days lapses between sittings, the Minister shall file a reply with the Clerk no later than the first day of the next sitting; and
b) Provisional reply
if the Minister cannot provide an answer in the time allotted, he or she may file a provisional return with the Clerk indicating
i. that the return to the written question is not ready,
ii. the reason for the delay, and
iii.the date upon which the information will be provided.
(2) Assembly advised of returns
Under the item “Returns to Written Questions”, the Clerk shall inform the Assembly of the returns or provisional returns received, deliver copies to all Members, and have the returns printed in Hansard.
(3) Minister may read return
Under the item “Returns to Written Questions”, a Minister may read a return which has been filed in accordance with Rule 45(1).