House of Commons Procedure and Practice
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[1] 
For a full description of the evolution of committees in the British Parliament, see Redlich, Vol. II, Chapter VII, pp. 203-14.
[2]
See Chapter 22, “Public Petitions”.
[3] 
For the first time, in 1571, committees of this nature were appointed for “the subsidy”, grievances and petitions, religion and disputed elections. From 1592 onwards, elections and privileges were considered by a single sessional committee. In 1621, the House instituted a grand standing committee on trade and another on the administration of justice. These along with the committees on religion, grievances and the smaller, that is select, Privileges and Elections Committee, constituted the system of standing committees as it was to remain for two centuries (Redlich, Vol. II, pp. 206-8).
[4] 
Redlich, Vol. II, p. 208.
[5] 
Redlich, Vol. II, p. 207.
[6] 
See also Chapter 19, “Committees of the Whole House”. By 1628, all the standing committees, except that on Privileges, were made Committees of the Whole House. The Committee on Privileges remained a select committee (Redlich, Vol. II, p. 209).
[7] 
Scobell quoted in Redlich, Vol. II, p. 208.
[8] 
The Long Parliament sat during the period of the Civil War and the Commonwealth in Great Britain. See The Oxford History of England: The Early Stuarts, 1603-1660, Oxford University Press, 1937, pp. 97, 172.
[9] 
Redlich, Vol. II, p. 210.
[10] 
Charles II was restored to the Throne in Great Britain in 1660. See The Oxford History of England: The Early Stuarts, 1603-1660, pp. 256-8.
[11] 
Redlich, Vol. II, pp. 210-1.
[12] 
For an expanded description of committees during this period, see O’Brien, p. 103.
[13] 
O’Brien, p. 106.
[14] 
O’Brien, p. 105.
[15] 
O’Brien, pp. 107-8.
[16] 
O’Brien, pp. 301-2. For information on the principle of responsible government, see Chapter 1, “Parliamentary Institutions”.
[17] 
The Union Act, 1840 joined Upper and Lower Canada into the single Province of Canada. See R.S.C. 1985, Appendix II, No. 4.
[18] 
The Member had to have stated opposition to the principle of the matter, rather than dissatisfaction with particular aspects of it. See Redlich, Vol. II, p. 205.
[19] 
Journals, July 12, 1955, pp. 930-1.
[20] 
Throughout this period, the inventory of standing committees remained virtually unchanged and consisted of the committees on Privileges and Elections, Expiring Laws, Railways, Canals and Telegraph Lines, Miscellaneous Private Bills, Standing Orders, Printing, Public Accounts, Banking and Commerce, and Immigration and Colonization (subsequently renamed Agriculture and Colonization). From 1867 to 1906 as well, the House consistently agreed, by separate motions, to Standing Joint Committees on the Library of Parliament and on the Printing of Parliament. See Journals, November 19, 1867, pp. 21-2; December 4, 1867, p. 48; April 14, 1887, pp. 5-6; March 14, 1906, p. 46.
[21] 
In 1867, 1883 and 1891, the Speech from the Throne occurred on the second sitting day (see Journals, November 7, 1867, p. 5; February 9, 1883, p. 15; April 30, 1891, p. 5). In all other instances, committees were established on the first day of the new session.
[22]
Legislation was dealt with in a Committee of the Whole at that time. See Chapter 19, ‘‘Committees of the Whole House”.
[23] 
Prior to this, the standing committee membership was drawn up and reported by a special committee “composed of leading men of the ministry and opposition …” Members were generally given one or two days to examine the lists before concurring in the report; however, it was often necessary to ask for immediate concurrence so that the Standing Committee on Standing Orders could consider petitions for private bills. These were receivable only within a limited period after the commencement of the session. The membership list included those committees regularly established since Confederation, excepting the Committee on Expiring Laws, which was dropped, and committees on the Library of Parliament and on the Debates of the House, which were added (Bourinot, 2nded., pp. 493-4). See, for example, Journals, January 21, 1884, p. 22; March 12, 1903, p. 22.
[24] 
In 1887, the Standing Committee on Railways, Canals and Telegraph Lines had a membership of 147 and thus a quorum, by rule, of 74; the Standing Committee on Banking and Commerce had a membership of 104 and thus a quorum, by rule, of 53. The membership of the House in 1887 was 215. See Journals, April 18, 1887, pp. 17-9.
[25] 
In 1927, the rules regarding committees were revised. The number of members on each standing committee was cut to roughly half, and the size of the membership was set down in the Standing Orders. Quorum for each committee was set individually (see Journals, March 22, 1927, pp. 320-3). Further changes in December 1968 (see Journals, December 20, 1968, pp. 554-79) restricted committee membership to between 20 and 30 Members of Parliament, excepting the 12-member Committee on Procedure. The slight increase in membership at the beginning of the Thirty-Sixth Parliament enabled committees to reflect the proportions of party representation in a five-party House. See Journals, September 23, 1997, pp. 12-3; October 1, 1997, p. 56.
[26] 
Journals, November 7, 1867, p. 5; February 6, 1986, pp. 1656-7; November 4, 1987, p. 1831; September 23, 1997, pp. 12-3.
[27] 
See Franks, pp. 162-3. See also Chapter 19, “Committees of the Whole House”.
[28] 
Journals, February 25, 1925, p. 66.
[29] 
Journals, July 12, 1955, pp. 881, 926-7.
[30] 
Journals, May 30, 1958, p. 71.
[31] 
Journals, December 14, 1964, pp. 985-96.
[32] 
Journals, June 11, 1965, pp. 229-30.
[33] 
Journals, December 20, 1968, pp. 554-79.
[34] 
The Special Committee on Standing Orders and Procedure. See Journals, May 31, 1982, pp. 4892-3. The Committee, chaired by Tom Lefebvre, is commonly referred to as the Lefebvre Committee.
[35] 
Third Report of the Special Committee on Standing Orders and Procedure (Parliamentary reform and changes to the Standing Orders). See Minutes of Proceedings and Evidence, November 4, 1982, Issue No. 7, pp. 3-41; Journals, November 5, 1982, p. 5328; November 29, 1982, p. 5400.
[36] 
Journals, December 7, 1984, p. 164.
[37] 
The Special Committee on Reform of the House of Commons. The Committee, chaired by James McGrath, is commonly referred to as the McGrath Committee (see Journals, December 5, 1984, pp. 153-4).
[38] 
The Special Committee on Reform of the House of Commons, Third Report, June 1985, pp. 16-27.
[39] 
The Special Committee on Reform of the House of Commons, Third Report, June 1985, pp. 22-5.
[40] 
Journals, February 6, 1986, pp. 1644-66; February 11, 1986, p. 1696; February 13, 1986, p. 1710; June 1, 1987, pp. 968-80; June 2, 1987, pp. 984-97; June 3, 1987, pp. 1002-28.
[41] 
Journals, April 11, 1991, pp. 2905-32, in particular pp. 2922-3; January 25, 1994, pp. 58-9.
[42] 
Journals, April 11, 1991, pp. 2905-32, in particular p. 2929.
[43] 
See Journals, February 7, 1994, pp. 112-8.
[44] 
Standing Orders 68 and 73.
[45] 
See Debates, February 7, 1994, pp. 957-62. Prior to this time, there had been occasions where committees were empowered by their orders of reference to draft legislative proposals or to bring in a bill. See, for example, Special Joint Committee on Bill C-43, Senate and House of Commons Conflict of Interest Act, Journals, November 22, 1991, pp. 717-8.
[46] 
Standing Order 116.
[47] 
Chapter XIII of the Standing Orders deals specifically with procedure related to committees.
[48] 
See, for example, Speaker Parent’s ruling, Debates, June 20, 1994, pp. 5582-3.
[49] 
Standing Order 109. See Speaker Bosley’s ruling, Debates, June 27, 1986, p. 14969. While a request for a government response to a committee report survives prorogation, it ceases to have effect on dissolution.
[50] 
See, for example, Journals, May 17, 1991, p. 42. The motion to reconstitute a committee may also include a budgetary provision, allocating to the reconstituted committee the unspent remainder of the previous committee’s budget. See, for example, Journals, May 17, 1991, p. 43.

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