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HAFF Committee Meeting

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MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS

Meeting No. 26

Thursday, June 7, 2001

The Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs met at 11:33 a.m. this day, in Room 112-N, Centre Block, the Chair, Derek Lee, presiding.

Members of the Committee present: Stéphane Bergeron, Marlene Catterall, Cheryl Gallant, Yvon Godin, Michel Guimond, Derek Lee, Paul Macklin, Carolyn Parrish, Geoff Regan, John Richardson, Jacques Saada and Tony Tirabassi.

Acting Members present: Joe Fontana for Joe Jordan.

In attendance: From the Library of Parliament: James Robertson, research officer.

Appearing: From the House of Commons: Peter Milliken, Speaker.

Witnesses: From the House of Commons: William Corbett, Clerk; MGen. G. Cloutier, Sergeant-at-Arms; Louis Bard, Chief Information Officer; Luc Desroches, Director General, Corporate Resources.

On motion of Joe Fontana, it was agreed:

That the motion adopted by this committee May 29, 2001 on electronic voting be rescinded;

That the Committee favours in principle the adoption of an electronic voting system for the House of Commons;

That the components and features to be included in any such system would include the following:

  1. Individual voting stations for each Member, with Yea, Nay, and Present/Abstain facilities, and luminous indications of the vote cast once it is validated by the system;
  2. Security or identification features for each voting station with provision for back-ups or overrides;
  3. Voting to be permitted only by Members when they are physically present in the chamber;
  4. Display panels in the chamber, visible to all, that would include reference to or the text of the item being voted upon; a roster of names of Members with indicators of how they voted; vote totals; time remaining in the voting period; and so forth;
  5. Video monitors with similar information for the use of the party whips;
  6. Control consoles and monitors for the Speaker and the Clerk’s Table;
  7. Approval of all visible monitors, consoles, or display panels will take into account the traditional and historical significance of the House of Commons and therefore consideration of such equipment at the design and installation stage will be non-intrusive and consistent, so as to maintain the existing architectural integrity.
  8. Procedural changes and Standing Order amendments to provide for electronic voting, including the capturing of time efficiencies, such as voting during the ringing of the bells for a recorded division, and the time permitted for subsequent divisions.

That a report prepared by the Clerk of the House outlining all options, costs and technologies to implement such a system, including any previous or current expression of interests from qualified suppliers, be tabled with this committee by Sept. 30, 2001 for its further consideration.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(3)(a)(ii), Report on Plans and Priorities for 2001-2002 of the House of Commons Administration (Sessional Paper No. 8520-371-90)

The Hon. Peter Milliken made a statement and, with the other witnesses, answered questions.

At 12:34 p.m., the Committee adjourned to the call of the Chair.

Patrice Martin

Clerk of the Committee