SMIP Committee Report

 

 

APPENDIX B

 

LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS

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1.  The Committee recommends that connections to the services of the Parliamentary Precinct network be made available to Members in the House of Commons chamber. 

2.  The Committee approves the launch in the autumn of 2003 of the ParlVU Service to the public via the Parliamentary Internet site.  The ParlVU service will carry the live televised parliamentary proceedings from the Commons chamber and two committee rooms via the Parliamentary Internet site. The Committee also supports making the live webcast of the audio of non-televised public committee meetings available as part of the ParlVU service to the public. 

3.  The Committee supports the electronic filing of notice of motions and written questions with the Journals Branch of the House of Commons, subject to the development of verification protocols.

 

4. The Committee recommends that Standing Order 74(1) be amended as    follows:

74. (1) Unless otherwise provided by a Standing or Special Order, when second reading or third reading of a government bill is being considered, no Member except the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition shall speak for more than:

a)     twenty minutes if the Member is the first to speak on behalf of a recognized party in the first round of speeches;

b)     twenty minutes following the first round of speeches, if that Member begins to speak within the next five hours of consideration;

c)      provided that, following the speech of each Member made pursuant to section (a) or (b), a period not exceeding ten minutes shall be made available, if required, to allow Members to ask questions and comment briefly on matters relevant to the speech and to allow responses thereto; and

(d) ten minutes if a Member speaks thereafter.

 

5.  The Committee recommends that portable lecterns lecterns be available in the House of Commons for the use of Members when speaking.

 

6.   The Committee recommends that Standing Order 36 be amended as follows:

36. (1) Prior to presentation, the Clerk of Petitions shall examine all petitions, and in order to be presented, they must be certified correct as to form and content by the said Clerk. 

(2) In order to be certified, pursuant to section (1) of this Standing Order, every petition shall: 

a)      be addressed to the House of Commons, the House of Commons in Parliament assembled, the Government of Canada, a Minister of the Crown or a Member of the House of Commons;  

b)      contain a clear, proper and respectful prayer which may call for the expenditure of public funds;

c)      be written, typewritten or printed on paper of usual size; 

d)      be free of alterations and interlineations in its text; 

e)      have its subject –matter indicated on every sheet if it consists of more than one sheet of signatures and addresses; 

f)    contain only original signatures and addresses written directly onto the petition and not pasted thereon or otherwise transferred to it; and 

g)      contain at least twenty-five signatures from persons other than Members of Parliament and, where the signatories have a fixed place of residence, their addresses. 

(3) Members presenting petitions shall be answerable that they do not contain impertinent or improper matter. 

(4) Every Member presenting a petition shall endorse his or her name thereon. 

(5) A petition to the House may be presented by a Member at any time during the sitting of the House by filing the same with the Clerk of the House. 

(6) Any Member desiring to present a petition, in his or her place in the House, may do so on “Presenting Petitions”, a period not to exceed fifteen minutes, during the ordinary daily routine of business 

(7) On the presentation of a petition no debate on or in relation to the same shall be allowed. 

(8)(a) Every petition presented pursuant to this Standing Order shall forthwith be transmitted to the Ministry, which shall, within forty-five days, respond to every petition referred to it; provided that the said response may be tabled pursuant to Standing Order 32(1). 

7.  The Committee recommends that the following change, for a one-year trial period, be made to the Standing Orders of the House of Commons to deal with the situation where a government response to a petition is not tabled in the House within 45 days:

(b) If such a petition remains without a response at the expiration of the said period of forty-five days, the matter of the failure of the Ministry to respond shall be deemed referred to the appropriate Standing Committee.  Within five sitting days of such a referral the Chair of the committee shall convene a meeting of the committee to consider the matter of the failure of the Ministry to respond.

 

8.  The Committee recommends the development of a system for electronic petitions, in consultation with the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs.

 

9.  The Committee recommends that Standing Order 81 be amended as follows:

81. (4) In every session the main estimates to cover the incoming fiscal year for every department of government shall be deemed referred to standing committees on or before March 1 of the then expiring fiscal year.  Each such committee shall consider and shall report, or shall be deemed to have reported, the same back to the House not later than May 31 in the then current fiscal year, provided that:

 (a) not later that May 1, the Leader of the Opposition, in consultation with the leaders of the other Opposition parties, may give notice during the time specified in Standing Order 54 of a motion to refer consideration of the main  estimates of no more that two named departments or agencies to committees of the whole, and the said motion shall be deemed adopted and the said estimates shall be deemed withdrawn from the standing committee to which they were referred.  Notwithstanding the provisions of Standing Orders 28(2) or 38(5), on any day appointed for the consideration of any business under the provisions of this section, but in any case not later than May 31, consideration of the main estimates of the said department or agency shall be taken up by a Committee of the Whole House at the conclusion of the adjournment proceedings or, if taken up on a Friday, at the conclusion of Private Members’ Business, for a period of time not exceeding four hours.  During the time provided for consideration of estimates pursuant to this paragraph, no Member shall be recognized for more than fifteen minutes at a time and the Member shall not speak in debate for more than ten minutes during that period.  The fifteen minutes may be used both for debate and for posing questions to the Minister of the Crown or a Parliamentary Secretary acting on behalf of the Minister.  When the Member is recognised he or she shall indicate how the fifteen minutes is to be apportioned.  At the conclusion of the time provided for the consideration of the business pursuant to this section, the Committee shall rise, the estimates shall be deemed reported and the House shall immediately adjourn to the next sitting day; 

10. The Committee recommends that Standing Order 81 be amended as follows:

81. (14)(a)(i) Written notice of an opposition motion on an allotted day shall be filed with the Clerk of the House not later than one hour prior to the opening of the sitting on the day preceding the allotted day, and the Speaker shall read the text of the motion at the opening of that sitting and shall indicate whether the motion is one that shall come to a vote pursuant to section (16) of this Standing Order.

 (ii) Notwithstanding section 14(a)(i) of this Standing Order, when an allotted day is designated for the first or second sitting day following an adjournment provided for in Standing Order 28(2)(a), written notice of an opposition motion may be filed with the Clerk in conformity with Standing Order 54(2). 

11. The Committee recommends that Standing Order 38 be amended as follows:

38(2)(a) No matter shall be debated during the thirty minutes herein provided, unless notice thereof has been given by a Member as provided in Standing Order 37(3) or 39(5)(b).  No debate on any one matter raised during this period shall last for more than ten minutes.

(b) When notice has been given pursuant to Standing Orders 37(3) and 39(5)(b) and the matter is not taken up during the time provided pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section, the notice shall be deemed withdrawn. 

12. The Committee recommends that the Clerk of the House be authorized to make necessary editorial and           consequential alterations to the  Standing Orders.