About

45th Parliament, 1st Session
(May 26, 2025 - Present)
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The mandate of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs (the “Committee”) is set out in section 108(3)(a) of the Standing Orders of the House of Commons. The Committee also acts as a striking committee for House standing committees under section 104 of the Standing Orders, and possesses the powers of examination and inquiry common to all standing committees under section 108(1)(a) of the Standing Orders.

Under its mandate, the Committee may review and report about the following matters:

In addition to its mandate as outlined in the Standing Orders, the Committee is responsible for all matters related to referendums, possesses a role in the electoral boundaries readjustment process, and is the House of Commons committee to which questions of privilege are referred.

The Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs (the “Committee”) traces its origins back to the earliest days of the Confederation.  On 7 November 1867, the second sitting day of Canada’s Parliament, the House of Commons established ten select standing committees, three of which possessed mandates that are now included under the Committee’s current mandate.  These committees were the Select Standing Committee on Privileges and Elections, the Select Standing Committee on Miscellaneous Private Bills, and the Select Standing Committee on Standing Orders

Various committees have, in the past, shared part of the Committee’s current mandate.  In 1991, the Standing Committee on House Management was established by merging the Standing Committee on Management and Members’ Services with the Standing Committee on Privileges and Elections (previously named the Standing Committee on Elections, Privileges, Procedure and Private Members’ Business). At the time, the Standing Committee on House Management was also entrusted to act as the Striking Committee for the membership of other committees.

In 1994, the Standing Committee on House Management was replaced by the Committee. In 1995, the Committee was designated as the committee responsible for matters related to the Referendum Act, and, in 2004, the mandate of the Committee was expanded to include all matters relating to the Conflict of Interest Code for Members of the House of Commons.

Each session, the Committee undertakes numerous studies and presents reports to the House of Commons on various matters related to its mandate, including:

Staff Assigned to the Committee

In the execution of its functions, each committee is normally assisted by a committee clerk, a committee assistant, and one or more analysts. Occasional assistance is also provided by legislative clerks and lawyers from the Office of the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel. These individuals are non-partisan and serve all members of the committee and representatives of all parties equally.

Committee Clerk

The clerk performs their duties and responsibilities under the direction of the committee and its Chair. As an expert in the rules of the House of Commons, the clerk may be requested to give advice to the Chair and members of the committee should a question of procedure arise. The clerk is the coordinator, organizer and liaison officer for the committee, and as such, is in frequent contact with Members’ staff. The clerk is also responsible for inviting witnesses and dealing with all the details regarding their appearance before the committee.

Committee Assistant

The committee assistant provides a wide range of specialized administrative services for the organization of committee meetings and the publishing of documents on the committee’s website. The committee assistant works with the clerk to meet the needs of the committee.

Committee Analyst

The Library of Parliament’s analysts, who are subject-matter experts, provide authoritative, substantive, and timely research, analysis and information to all members of the committee. They are part of the committee’s institutional memory and are a unique resource for parliamentarians. Supported by research librarians, the analysts work individually or in multidisciplinary teams.

Analysts can prepare briefing notes on the subjects being examined, detailed study plans, lists of proposed witnesses, analyses of an issue with a list of suggested questions, background papers, draft reports, news releases, and formal correspondence.

OTHER RESOURCES AVAILABLE AS REQUIRED

Parliamentary Counsel

Within the Office of the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel, parliamentary counsel (Legislation) are available to assist Members who are not in Cabinet with the preparation of private Members’ bills or of amendments to government bills or other bills.

At various stages of the legislative process, Members may propose amendments to bills. Amendments may first be proposed at the committee stage, during a committee’s clause-by-clause review of a bill. Amendments may also be proposed at the report stage, once a bill returns to the House.

Once a bill is sent to committee, the clerk of the committee provides Members the name of the parliamentary counsel (Legislation) responsible for drafting the amendments for that bill.

Legislative Clerk

The legislative clerk serves all members of the committee as a specialist of the process by which a bill becomes law. They are available to give, upon request from Members and their staff, advice on the admissibility of amendments when bills are referred to committee. The legislative clerk organizes the amendments into packages for committee stage, reviews all the committee amendments for procedural admissibility and prepares draft rulings for the Chair.

During clause-by-clause consideration of bills in committee, a legislative clerk is in attendance to assist the committee with any procedural issues that may arise. The legislative clerk can also provide Members with advice regarding the procedural admissibility of report stage amendments. When a bill is sent to committee, the clerk of the committee provides Members the name of the legislative clerk assigned to the bill.

The Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO)

The Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) is an officer of Parliament created by the Parliament of Canada Act who supports Parliament by providing analysis, including analysis of macroeconomic and fiscal policy, for the purposes of raising the quality of parliamentary debate and promoting greater budget transparency and accountability.

The Parliament of Canada Act also provides the PBO with a mandate to, if requested by a committee, estimate the financial cost of any proposal over which Parliament has jurisdiction. Certain committees, including the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates, can also request research and analyses of the nation’s finances or economy, or of the estimates.

Further information on the PBO may be found at: http://www.pbo-dpb.gc.ca/en/

FOREIGN ELECTION INTERFERENCE

On 1 November 2022, the Committee undertook a study on foreign interference in Canada’s federal elections. It heard from 74 witnesses over the course of 17 meetings. However, the study was paused on 16 May 2023, for the Committee to commence a related study on a question of privilege related to an alleged intimidation campaign against certain members of the House. That day, the Committee agreed to a motion that included, among other things, that the Committee could, during its study on the question of privilege, make use of the evidence it had received during its study on foreign election interference.

ELECTORAL BOUNDARIES READJUSTMENT

Following each federal decennial census, the process to readjust electoral districts and assign each riding with a name is initiated, in accordance with the Constitution Act, 1867 and the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act. The Committee has a defined role within the process, the last of which began in October 2021 and ended in April 2024.

The 10 provincial electoral boundaries commissions must prepare a report that is tabled in the House. Members of the House may then file an objection with the Committee to the proposed boundaries and/or names of a province’s electoral district(s). The Committee examines these objections and reports its findings back to the House.

In all, members of the House filed objections to the reports of eight commissions. In response to the objections, the Committee issued a substantive report for all eight provinces for which an objection had been filed. The reports set out the Committee’s deliberations and non-binding recommendations for the respective provincial commissions to consider. These were: Report 26 (Nova Scotia); Report 27 (New Brunswick); Report 28 (Saskatchewan); Report 29 (Manitoba); Report 39 (Quebec); Report 40 (Alberta); Report 42 (British Columbia); and Report 46 (Ontario).

INCLUSION OF INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES ON FEDERAL ELECTION BALLOTS

During the 44th Parliament, the Committee undertook two related studies regarding the inclusion of Indigenous languages on federal election ballots, which resulted in two reports. The first, Report 12 – The Inclusion of Indigenous Languages on Federal Election Ballots: A Step towards Reconciliation, included a recommendation for Elections Canada to undertake a pilot project to include Inuit languages on federal election ballots in the riding of Nunavut. The second, Report 72 – Pilot Project to Include Inuit Languages on Federal Election Ballots in Nunavut, reviewed Elections Canada’s proposed pilot project and recommended that it be authorized.

FUTURE OF HYBRID PROCEEDINGS IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS

To address social distancing needs during the COVID 19 pandemic, the House of Commons adopted several temporary measures enabling members to remotely participate in parliamentary proceedings. In the aftermath of the pandemic, the Committee studied the advisability of retaining and rendering permanent some of these measures. The study resulted in Report 20 – Future of Hybrid Proceedings in the House of Commons. The Committee recommended that the measures allowing hybrid participation, including the remote voting application, be maintained and that the Standing Orders be modified accordingly.

QUESTIONS OF PRIVILEGE

During the 44th Parliament, the House of Commons referred three cases of privilege to the Committee for study. These cases were on the following matters:

  • targeted cyber-attacks against members of Parliament by a foreign state-backed group;
  • alleged acts of intimidation by a foreign diplomat against members of the House of Commons; and
  • the Speaker’s public participation at an Ontario Liberal Party convention.

LEGISLATION AND MOTIONS

The Committee studied three bills and one motion during the 44th Parliament:

  • Bill C 65, An Act to amend the Canada Elections Act;
  • Bill C 377, An Act to amend the Parliament of Canada Act (need to know);
  • Bill C 14, An Act to amend the Constitution Act, 1867 (electoral representation); and
  • M 109, Instruction to the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs (Amendments to the Standing Orders).

REQUEST FOR APPROVAL OF FORMS AND GUIDELINES FROM THE CONFLICT OF INTEREST AND ETHICS COMMISSIONER

Under section 30 of theConflict of Interest Code for Members of the House of Commons (the Code), the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner (the Commissioner) must submit any proposed procedural and interpretive guidelines, and all forms related to the Code, to the Committee for its approval. On 7 February 2024, the Committee received correspondence from the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, asking it to review two guidelines and five forms, all submitted for the Committee’s approval. The Commissioner appeared before the Committee to provide information on the new guidelines and the revised forms and respond to questions. However, the Committee did not present a report to the House on this matter prior to the dissolution of Parliament for the 45th general election.

REVIEW OF MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS WORKPLACE HARASSMENT FRAMEWORK

During the 44th Parliament, the Committee undertook a review of the Members of the House of Commons Workplace Harassment and Violence Prevention Policy and other harassment prevention instruments applying to members of the House of Commons. The Committee further studied occurrences and impacts of harassment within the House of Commons, Parliament Hill, constituency offices and on members’ social media.

ESTIMATES

The Committee is responsible for the Main Estimates and Supplementary Estimates of the House of Commons, the Parliamentary Protective Service (PPS), the Chief Electoral Officer and the Leaders’ Debates Commission. Generally, at least once per fiscal year, the Committee will invite the Speaker of the House of Commons, the Clerk and the Chief Superintendent of the PPS to appear before the Committee to respond to questions in respect of budgetary planning, priorities and performance of the House and PPS. Likewise, the Chief Electoral Officer, along with staff members, generally appear before the Committee at least once per fiscal year to respond to questions on budgetary planning, priorities and performance at Elections Canada. Finally, staff of the Leaders’ Debates Commission also tend to appear at least once per fiscal year to discuss plans and priorities.