House of Commons Procedure and Practice
Edited by Robert Marleau and Camille Montpetit

2000 Edition — More information …

24. The Parliamentary Record

A great speech is not only a news event; it is part of history. As history is written it should also be seen. We should have some way of preserving for those who come after us the words, the faces, the expressions and the emotions of the members of this house.

Max Saltsman, m.p. (Waterloo South)
(Debates, June 5, 1967, p. 1158)

he House produces many documents for the use of its Members, their staff and the general public. These documents enable all interested parties to follow parliamentary business; they also provide a permanent record of debate, decisions taken and other business coming before the House and its committees. The House also ensures the broadcasting of the proceedings of the House and its committees.

Parliamentary Publications

The following publications of the House of Commons are described in this chapter:

Journals: The official record of what is done in the House, drawn from the scroll kept by Table Officers during the sittings of the House and signed by the Clerk of the House.
Debates: The transcribed, edited and corrected record of what is said in the House and in a Committee of the Whole.
Order Paper and Notice Paper: The Order Paper is the official agenda of the House, produced for each sitting day, and listing all items that may be brought forward in the Chamber on that day. The Notice Paper contains notices of items which Ministers and Members may wish to bring before the House.
Projected Order of Business: A document, produced each day the House sits, containing an unofficial forecast of the order of business for the House that day, including such information as the length of speeches and any time limits on debate.
Status of House Business: Updated daily when the House is sitting, this document provides cumulative information on the status of bills and motions.
Minutes of Proceedings, Evidence, and Reports of Committees: These three documents form the records produced by parliamentary committees — the “minutes” being the official record of business; the “evidence” being the verbatim transcript of proceedings held in public; and the “reports” containing the observations and recommendations that committees make to the House.
Bills: A bill is a proposed law, submitted to Parliament for its approval.

In 1994, the House began to distribute its publications electronically and the following year, it began the process of making its publications accessible worldwide through the Parliamentary Internet Parlementaire. ^[1] The growing accessibility of official publications by electronic means has meant a rationalization in production and distribution of the printed product. ^[2]

Governing Provisions

The House of Commons has exclusive control of its publications. ^[3] These documents are published under the authority of the House (as represented by the Speaker or the Clerk). All parliamentary publications are produced in both official languages. The Constitution and the Official Languages Act provide for the use and equal status of the official languages in the “records and journals” of Parliament. ^[4]

Many of the Standing Orders of the House of Commons make explicit reference to the Journals, the Debates, the Order Paper and the Notice Paper. ^[5] These publications, along with minutes of committees and bills introduced in the House of Commons, are produced by order of the House, under the authority of the Speaker and are considered as “official” publications. Other unofficial publications (for example, the Projected Order of Business and the Status of House Business) have come into existence through administrative decisions or following recommendations of committees. They are also published under the authority of the Speaker or of the Clerk of the House.

The Standing Orders confer on the Clerk of the House responsibility for the preparation of House documents, as well as the safekeeping of parliamentary documents and records. ^[6]

The Journals

The Journals record all that is done, or deemed done, by the House. They are the minutes of the meetings of the House ^[7] and as such, the authoritative record of its proceedings, which may be used as evidence in a court of law. ^[8] The Journals are prepared by House staff under the responsibility of the Clerk. The basis of the Journals is the scroll — notes and records kept by the Clerk of the House and other Table Officers in the course of a sitting. Formerly, the House produced daily Votes and Proceedings which were not designated as Journals until they had been revised and bound at the end of the session. Since September 1994, revised weekly Journals have been produced as well as unrevised daily Journals. ^[9]

No explicit authority exists by which the Journals are published. At the time of Confederation, the then Votes and Proceedings were published under a sessional order ^[10] which read as follows:

That the Votes and Proceedings of this House be printed, being first perused by Mr. Speaker, and that he do appoint the printing thereof, and that no person but such as he shall appoint, do presume to print the same. ^[11]

The record has since been produced without interruption; by the late 1870s, however, the practice of adopting a sessional order appeared to have fallen into disuse. ^[12]

When the House is sitting, the unrevised Journals for a given sitting are available on the morning of the following weekday; revised compilations are published on a weekly basis. The Journals are also available in electronic format on the Internet. At the end of a session, a compilation of the revised Journals along with other information is available in a limited number of bound copies ^[13] and on CD-ROM.

Format and Contents

Until the Second Session of the Thirtieth Parliament (1976-77), the Journals were printed in separate English and French editions; thereafter they have been printed in a bilingual side-by-side format. The Journals follow the order of proceedings in the House and succinct entries are made of the business conducted and decisions taken by the House.

The Standing Orders expressly state that a record is to be made in the Journals when a vote is cast by the Chair and reasons are given; ^[14] and when documents and papers are tabled, presented or filed, including petitions and reports from committees and parliamentary delegations. ^[15] In the event the House adjourns for want of a quorum, the names of Members present are to be recorded in the Journals. ^[16] Similarly, when a recorded vote has taken place, and Members have been registered as paired, their names are to be recorded in the Journals. ^[17] When a bill involving expenditure of public funds is before the House, the accompanying Royal Recommendation is recorded. ^[18] Also, when the Clerk of Petitions reports to the House following the presentation of a petition for a private bill, the report is printed in the Journals ^[19] and further Journals entries are made at subsequent points in the legislative process with regard to private bills. ^[20]

The Journals contain no record of debate in the House, except to note that it took place on a question. Likewise, no record is made of the proceedings or decisions taken in a Committee of the Whole, except to note when a Committee of the Whole sits, reports progress and reports back a bill with or without amendment. When amendments are reported, they are printed in the Journals.

Corrections and Alterations

The daily Journals are revised and corrections or changes are incorporated prior to publication of the weekly Journals. The accuracy of the record has rarely been questioned. ^[21] Errors or omissions have on occasion been brought to the attention of the House; ^[22] editorial errors are corrected by those responsible for the publication. ^[23] On one occasion, the Speaker informed the House that the record of the previous day’s proceedings had to be reprinted to correct a number of inaccuracies in voting lists. ^[24]

The Debates

The House of Commons Debates, commonly known as the Debates or as Hansard, ^[25] is the report in extenso of the debates which take place in the House and in a Committee of the Whole, with due regard to necessary grammatical, vocabulary and editorial changes.

In the pre-Confederation assemblies and for some years after Confederation, there was no official reporting of debates in the House of Commons. ^[26] Contemporary newspapers carried accounts of legislative proceedings including debates, with varying degrees of thoroughness, accuracy and impartiality.

After Confederation, there were attempts to establish a reporting service, which did not succeed as not all Members were convinced of the need. ^[27] In 1875, reporting of proceedings in the House of Commons began to be carried out on a contract basis, overseen by a committee of the House and in accordance with guidelines meant to ensure the accuracy of the record. ^[28] Over time, the system of contract reporting was found wanting, and the House came to the view that an improved and comprehensive official parliamentary report was needed. ^[29] In April 1880, the House concurred in a committee report which recommended, in the interests of “greater permanency” and “a higher state of efficiency”, that the House engage its own permanent reporting staff. ^[30] Thus, verbatim reporting of debates became an official function of the House under the control of a committee of the House. In 1882, with the adoption of a report from a committee appointed to supervise the Official Report of the Debates, the House agreed to produce an index to the Debates. ^[31]

The Debates are published under the authority of the Speaker of the House. They are compiled using the audio recording of the proceedings as well as information provided by Hansard staff stationed on the floor of the House. They are produced in both official languages and are available the next day.

Format and Contents

The Debates are published under separate cover in each official language, with uniformity of pagination between the two editions. ^[32] The language used by the Member speaking is indicated. ^[33] Like the Journals, the Debates follow the actual order of proceedings in the House, based on the order of business for the sitting; unlike the Journals, the Debates contain the full deliberations of the House — speeches and statements of Members as well as other comments and interventions made in the Chamber. It is not considered usual or regular to include in the Debates material not delivered in the Chamber; however, some exceptions exist. For example, the Debates contain:

division lists, when a recorded division takes place (paired Members are included); ^[34]
written answers to questions on the Order Paper; ^[35]
the text of the Speech from the Throne at the beginning of each session;
other material specifically ordered by the House. ^[36]

For information purposes, the House has occasionally agreed to print a text as an appendix to the Debates. ^[37] In certain circumstances, editorial notes may also be inserted. ^[38] Each Friday, ^[39] the Debates contains an appendix comprising the following lists:

Chair occupants;
Members of the Board of Internal Economy;
Members of the House of Commons listed alphabetically and by province, including constituency name and political affiliation;
Committees and their membership;
Panel of Chairmen of Legislative Committees;
the Ministry, with ministerial titles and according to precedence;
Parliamentary Secretaries.

The Debates are also available in electronic format on the Internet, and at the end of each session, a compilation of the revised Debates is produced in a limited number of bound copies and also in CD-ROM format.

Corrections and Alterations

The unedited transcripts of Hansard, at one time produced on blue paper, continue to be known as the “blues”. The Debates Reporting Service sends to a Member who speaks in the House the transcript of his or her intervention. ^[40] Blues are also sent to the Press Gallery. Question Period blues are sent to the offices of party leaders, party research offices and the office of the Speaker. The blues may also be made available on request to other Members, to the Clerk and to senior House officials. At times, the Chair has referred to the blues in deciding points of order or grievances raised by Members. ^[41] However, the blues are a preliminary copy and are not to be quoted from during debate. ^[42]

A Member verifies his or her own intervention and may suggest corrections to errors and minor alterations to the transcription; a Member may not make material changes in the meaning of what was said in the House. It is a long-standing practice of the House that editors of the Debates may exercise judgement as to whether or not changes suggested by Members constitute the correction of an error or a minor alteration. ^[43] The editors may likewise alter a sentence to render it more readable but may not go so far as to change its meaning. ^[44] Editors must ensure that the Debates are a faithful reflection of what was said; any changes made, whether by Members or editors, are for the sole purpose of improving the readability of the text, given the difference between the spoken and written word.

In order for corrections and alterations to be considered, the blues must be returned within stipulated deadlines. Returned blues must be clearly initialed by the Member or a designated agent. If a Member’s blues are not returned, it is assumed there are no modifications to be made.

Substantial errors, as opposed to editorial changes, must be brought to the attention of the House by means of a point of order, as soon as possible after the sitting, if a Member wishes to have the verbatim record changed. Such mishaps may be attributed to a misstatement on the part of the Member, or to transcription error. ^[45] A Member may correct the record of his or her own statement, but may not correct that of another Member. ^[46] When a question arises in the House as to the accuracy of the record, it is the responsibility of the Speaker to look into the matter. ^[47] On occasion the Speaker has seen fit to order the printing of a corrigendum to the Debates. ^[48]

Since the advent of broadcasting of House proceedings, occasional points of order have been raised on the basis of discrepancy in the content of the Debates and the broadcast tape. ^[49] While such matters have been resolved as they arose, the Speaker, in 1978, noted:

An examination of the record through these electronic recording devices is being resorted to by more and more Canadians all the time. Therefore, additional strain is being put on the reporting staff who have enjoyed this editorial licence in the past. They now find themselves under the constraint of matching their records exactly with the language used on the radio and television. ^[50]

In 1986, the Speaker repeated these remarks and suggested that the issue of the official status of the electronic Hansard ought to be clarified. ^[51] Until this occurs, each discrepancy must be examined on its own merit. ^[52]

The Order Paper and Notice Paper

The Order Paper and Notice Paper is a single publication, published daily when the House sits. It consists of two parts: the Order Paper and the Notice Paper. The Order Paper is the complete and authoritative agenda of all items of business which may be considered by the House of Commons; unless otherwise provided for in the Standing Orders, only those items may be considered by the House during a sitting. As its name suggests, the Notice Paper contains all items for which notice must be given. Together, these documents contain virtually all items of business which are before the House or which may be brought before the House.

The rules of the House require notice to be given before almost any matter of substance can be raised for consideration by the House. ^[53] The usual way of giving notice is for the sponsoring Member to send a written and signed notice to the Clerk for inclusion in the Notice Paper. Notices given or deemed given on a particular day are printed in that day’s Notice Paper and transferred to the Order Paper after the applicable notice period has elapsed. All items, with the exception of Government Orders, are to be taken up in accordance with the precedence assigned to them on the Order Paper. ^[54] Thus, the Order Paper has a double significance. It contains, first, all items of business to be considered (orders) and, second, the sequence in which the orders are to be considered.

The Standing Orders require the Clerk of the House to provide the Speaker, each day before the House meets, with the official agenda of proceedings for the day. ^[55] This rule has traditionally been interpreted to mean that the Speaker must be in possession of a copy of the Order Paper and Notice Paper before the business of the House may proceed.

Historical Perspective

The Order Paper originated as a document containing any item of business which the House had ordered to be taken up on a specified day. The Order Paper still contains such items; ^[56] other items are placed on the Order Paper not because the House has adopted an order but because the Standing Orders require it, after proper notice. ^[57]

Formerly, it was the practice for notices submitted by Members to be appended to the Votes and Proceedings of the sitting during which the notice was given. ^[58] The current practice of producing the Notice Paper with the Order Paper began on October 27, 1969, when the House was in the process of computerizing its production processes for publications. ^[59]

Role of the Speaker

As with other parliamentary publications, the Order Paper and Notice Paper is published under the authority of the Speaker of the House. When a notice is submitted for inclusion on the Notice Paper, it is examined by procedural staff of the Clerk. If any procedural irregularity is found, modifications as to the form and content of the notice may then be made in consultation with the sponsoring Member. ^[60] Where items of Private Members’ Business are concerned, it may happen that a certain item for which notice has been given is deemed to be substantially the same as another. In such cases, the rules give the Speaker discretionary power to refuse the most recent notice, inform the Member and return the item. ^[61]

Format and Contents

The Order Paper and Notice Paper is a bilingual publication, available electronically and in a printed version. The part containing the Order Paper is divided into sections corresponding to the various categories of orders the House considers:

Order of Business: Items for which notice has already been given and which are awaiting introduction during Routine Proceedings. They are listed under Introduction of Government Bills, Introduction of Private Members’ Bills, First Reading of Senate Public Bills, and Motions (including motions for concurrence in committee reports);
Government Orders: Items which are already before the House and are awaiting first consideration or resumption of debate. They are listed under Supply Proceedings, Ways and Means Proceedings, Government Bills (Commons), Government Bills (Senate), and Government Business;
Notices of Motions for the Production of Papers: This list appears only on Wednesdays; ^[62]
Private Members’ Business: Items in the order of precedence appear in the order in which they are to be considered by the House. The list may change from day to day as items are added or dropped and because the rules allow exchanges of place. ^[63] The list of items outside the order of precedence is available electronically, and an updated copy is kept for consultation at the Table in the House;
Questions: Written questions are printed only when they appear on the Notice Paper. The complete list of questions on the Order Paper is also available electronically and at the Table for consultation.

The Order Paper also includes the “Weekly Review of Business”, a compilation of information on items of business introduced, placed on notice or considered in the House during the course of the week. The Review in Monday’s Order Paper contains the complete summary for the preceding week. The information is also incorporated in the Status of House Business, which is updated daily when the House sits.

Similar to the Order Paper, items on the Notice Paper are listed under the following categories of business:

Introduction of Government Bills;
Introduction of Private Members’ Bills;
Motions (Routine Proceedings);
Questions;
Notices of Motions for the Production of Papers;
Business of Supply;
Government Business;
Private Members’ Notices of Motions;
Private Members’ Business;
Report Stage of Bills.

Transfer to Order Paper from Notice Paper

When the notice requirement for a given item has been met, the notice is transferred to the appropriate section of the Order Paper. Some particularities found in the Notice Paper are worth noting:

Opposition motions under Supply proceedings, which are to be debated on “allotted” or “opposition” days, require only 24 hours’ notice. ^[64] The motion is usually taken up by the House on the sitting day following the day notice is given. The text of the motion appears simultaneously on the Order Paper and on the Notice Paper.
Motions to amend a bill at report stage following second reading also require only 24 hours’ notice. ^[65] In order to keep all such proposed amendments together, the list of these notices together with the list of any deferred divisions on report stage motions are kept in the Notice Paper even after the notice requirement has been met.
The rules require that any item of Private Members’ Business to be considered on a given day must also appear on that day’s Notice Paper; if the notice does not appear, no Private Members’ Business is taken up that day. ^[66]

Written questions appear once on the Notice Paper when notice is given, and are then moved to the list of questions on the Order Paperwhich is available electronically and at the Table. ^[67] When a question has been dealt with (answered, made an order for return, withdrawn or transferred ^[68]), the fact is noted in the Status of House Business.

Withdrawing Items from the Order Paper

As long as a motion has not been proposed to the House, it remains a notice and the sponsoring Member is free to withdraw it; the consent of the House is not required. ^[69] A notice may be withdrawn in one of two ways: the Member either makes a written request to the Clerk to withdraw the notice or rises in the House to withdraw the notice orally. ^[70] This applies to items on the Notice Paper and on the Order Paper, as long as the House has not been seized of them — for example, bills not yet introduced, motions not yet moved, ^[71] and notices of motions for the production of papers. ^[72] The item is then removed from the Notice Paper or the Order Paper. In addition, in certain circumstances notices have been removed from the Order Paper and Notice Paper by the Speaker when informed, for example, of the death or resignation of a sponsoring Member. ^[73] On one occasion, the Speaker informed the House that a revised Notice Paper had been prepared, which included notices of report stage amendments inadvertently left off the original. ^[74]

Once a notice has been transferred to the Order Paper and moved in the House, ^[75] it is considered to be in the possession of the House and can only be removed from the Order Paper by an order of the House; that is, the Member who has moved the motion requests that it be withdrawn, and the House must give its unanimous consent. ^[76]

Special Order Paper

From time to time, a Special Order Paper is published. ^[77] This may happen before the opening of the first or a subsequent session of a Parliament, or when the House stands adjourned and the government wishes the House to give immediate consideration to a matter or matters for which notice would have to be given. ^[78] Once advised of this, the Speaker ensures that the required notice is published in a Special Order Paper, which is circulated to Members at least 48 hours before the session either begins or resumes.

The format of a Special Order Paper is like that of a regular Order Paper. It contains only the notices of the measure or measures which are to receive the immediate consideration of the House.

The Projected Order of Business

The Order Paper lists all the business which might be taken up by the House on a given day, but it does not indicate which items the government intends, or is likely, to call. The Projected Order of Business, published each sitting day, is a tentative working agenda which lists all the government and Private Members’ Business expected to be taken up on a particular day. It was first published in 1983 as a result of a special procedure committee’s identification of the need for a “simplified, unofficial, daily agenda, in addition to the Order Paper, to indicate the likely order of business for any particular day”. ^[79]

Format and Contents

The Projected Order of Business is produced in side-by-side bilingual format. A printed version is available and distributed daily to Members when the House sits; in addition, it is available electronically and may also be viewed on the parliamentary television channel.

Material is organized under a sequence of headings corresponding to the Order of Business for the day, including Government Orders and Private Members’ Business. Entries under the headings indicate which items from the Order Paper are expected to be taken up when that heading is called by the Chair. When no entry appears under items for which notice is required, it may be taken to mean either that the Order Paper has no items listed for that category of business, or that any of the items appearing on the Order Paper under that heading may be taken up. Typically, there would be no entries under other items which do not require notice, such as tabling of documents or presenting petitions.

In addition, the Projected Order of Business contains notes providing the reader with information, such as length of speeches and any time limits on debate (with reference to the applicable Standing or Special Orders) applying to items expected to come before the House, as well as a projection of business for subsequent days. The projection is based on the order of precedence for Private Members’ Business and on the weekly statement on government business. ^[80]

Subject to Change

Items listed under the heading of Government Orders are included on the basis of the weekly business statements and information provided to the Clerk by the office of the Government House Leader. As indicated on the document itself, the listing is subject to change without notice, as the government retains its right to determine the sequence in which items of government business are called and considered. ^[81]

The Status of House Business

The Status of House Business provides a concise history of each item of business which has been consiered by the House or which has appeared on the Order Paper and Notice Paper since the beginning of the session. Produced under the authority of the Clerk, it is available electronically and updated daily. Until the end of the Thirty-Fifth Parliament (1994-97), the Status of House Business was printed approximately once a month when the House was sitting.

Format and Contents

The Status of House Business is produced in both official languages and has three parts. Part I contains the legislative history of all the bills in the House (government bills and private Members’ bills, as well as bills originating in the Senate). Part II gives similar information with respect to motions (motions under Government Orders, motions for the production of papers, private Members’ motions and motions dealing with other business such as the operations of the House and its committees). Part III contains information on written questions submitted by private Members.

The Status of House Business is accompanied by an alphabetical, subject-based index. References in this index are to the various items of business and sections of the document. Lists are provided under certain headings, such as bills, government business, Supply proceedings and Ways and Means proceedings.

Minutes of Proceedings, Evidence and Reports of Committees

Each committee of the House produces its own records. Since 1995, these records have become available primarily by electronic means. They include three main documents:

the minutes of proceedings: the formal record of business occurring during a committee meeting;
the evidence: the in extenso transcript of what is said during a meeting;
reports to the House: the means by which committees make their views and recommendations known.

All committee records are made available electronically under the authority of the Speaker of the House. Under the Standing Orders, committees are empowered to print papers and evidence in accordance with any such decision they may make. ^[82] However, this authority is somewhat qualified by limitations set by the Board of Internal Economy. ^[83]

Corrections and Alterations

Unedited transcripts of committee proceedings, known (as with the Debates) as “blues”, are made available on request to committee members, usually within 24 hours after a committee meets. Traditionally, minor corrections could be effected by informing the committee clerk, who would have an erratum printed; corrections of a more significant nature would be made by the committee itself as a corrigendum. ^[84] In 1993, the decision of a committee to alter its official record by expunging portions of testimony gave rise to a question of privilege in the House. The Speaker’s ruling established that a committee’s power to print includes the right not to print, which may be extended to a decision to omit evidence from the record. ^[85]

Bills

The House of Commons considers proposed laws — or bills — submitted for its approval by Ministers or private Members. Bills originating in the House are published and circulated under the authority of the Speaker; they are also available in electronic format. They are designated by letter and number in accordance with the type of bill and its House of origin. Bills originating in the House and sponsored by Ministers are numbered from C-1 to C-200, in the order of their introduction during the session. Bills originating in the House and sponsored by private Members are likewise numbered from C-201 to C-1000 through the session. All bills originating in the Senate are numbered from S-1. Most private bills originate in the Senate, but any originating in the Commons would be numbered from C-1001. All bills originating in the House are printed in both official languages by order of the House. ^[86]

Broadcasting Services

Historical Perspective

Prior to the introduction of television in the House of Commons in 1977, only special parliamentary events, such as openings of Parliament and addresses by distinguished visitors, ^[87] were broadcast. The question of radio and television broadcasting was debated in the House in 1967 and 1969 and referred to a procedure committee in 1970. ^[88] The committee’s report, tabled in 1972, discussed the concept of an “electronic Hansard” whereby radio and television coverage would be a faithful record of proceedings and debates in the House, in the same sense as the written Debates. ^[89] This approach was to become a guiding principle in the broadcasting of House proceedings. Parliament was dissolved before the committee’s recommendations could be considered. A feasibility study was undertaken in 1974 ^[90] and on January 25, 1977, the House adopted the following motion:

That this House approves the radio and television broadcasting of its proceedings and of the proceedings of its committees on the basis of the principles similar to those that govern the publication of the printed official reports of debates; and that a special committee, consisting of Mr. Speaker and seven other members to be named at a later date, be appointed to supervise the implementation of this resolution … ^[91]

The special committee chaired by Speaker James Jerome made the necessary decisions as to lighting, camera placement and other matters. During the summer recess, the Chamber was extensively refitted and on October 17, 1977, gavel-to-gavel coverage of the proceedings of the House of Commons began. ^[92]

In 1989, a consortium of cable television companies and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation jointly proposed a new specialty cable channel, to be called the Canadian Parliamentary Channel (CPAC), which would broadcast the House of Commons proceedings as well as other public affairs programming. A committee undertook a study of this proposal within a wide-ranging review of broadcasting and the House of Commons. ^[93] In its final report, ^[94] the committee endorsed the CPAC proposal. The committee also found existing camera guidelines unnecessarily strict. ^[95] Although the report itself was not concurred in, a motion endorsing the CPAC proposal in principle was adopted by the House. ^[96] Further enhancements proposed by the committee were taken up by the House and implemented. ^[97] In 1992, the House agreed to the use of a greater variety of camera angles during the coverage of Question Period and of recorded votes. ^[98]

Authority and Jurisdiction

At an early stage, well before the House agreed to the broadcasting of its proceedings, it was clear that control of any such broadcasting system, including the safeguarding of the electronic Hansard concept, was to remain with the House and under the supervision of the Speaker acting on behalf of all Members. ^[99]

In support of this principle, the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs has, as part of its permanent mandate, the duty to review and report on the broadcasting of proceedings of the House and its committees, and to deal with any complaints from Members in connection with such broadcasting. ^[100]

Current Arrangements

The broadcasting service provided by the House ensures that the daily proceedings of the House are taped, archived and distributed live to the media. In addition, House and committee proceedings are transmitted via satellite and distributed on the Canadian Public Affairs Channel (CPAC), ^[101] which makes use of the existing national system of cable television channels. CPAC viewers have access to live, gavel-to-gavel proceedings of the House, the daily replay of Question Period, and committee coverage.

The broadcast system is integrated into the architecture of the Chamber so as not to offend existing decor. Committee and House proceedings are broadcast and recorded from the opening of business until adjournment and distributed to outside users without editing or revision. ^[102]

Chamber Proceedings

The Chamber is equipped with cameras mounted beneath the galleries and operated from a control room constructed over the south gallery, invisible from the floor of the House. The recording of the proceedings is governed by guidelines, intended to preserve the concept of the electronic Hansard, as adopted by the House. ^[103] The camera focusses on the Speaker, or on the Member who has been recognized by the Speaker. During debate, camera shots are restricted to the head and torso of the Member speaking, and the microphone picks up only his or her voice. Reaction shots, split screens and cutaway shots are not permitted. In order to give viewers a better appreciation of “the context and dynamic of the House”, wider camera angles, showing more of the House and its Members, may be used during Question Period and the taking of recorded votes. ^[104]

Committee Proceedings

The resolution adopted by the House in 1977 also applied to the broadcasting of committee proceedings; however, the special committee implementing radio and television broadcasting determined that further study was necessary before committee proceedings could be televised. ^[105] In the next Parliament, the Speaker was asked to rule on the question of whether a committee had the power to televise and decided that since no guidelines had been established, the broadcasting of committee proceedings could only be authorized by the House itself. ^[106]

Beginning in 1980, a number of committees received permission from the House to broadcast their proceedings on a single-issue basis — that is, to broadcast a single meeting, or all the meetings held with respect to a particular order of reference. ^[107] In 1991, the House adopted a rule codifying the requirement for committees to seek the consent of the House to use House facilities for broadcasting. This new rule also required the then Standing Committee on House Management to establish experimental guidelines which, when concurred in by the House, would govern the broadcasting of committee meetings. ^[108] In 1992, the House concurred in the Committee’s report recommending the audio broadcast of all public committee meetings and the equipping of one committee room for television broadcasting, with an evaluation to be made by the Committee after six months. ^[109] In April 1993, the House agreed to continue these broadcasting arrangements on a permanent basis, subject to ongoing review by the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs. ^[110]

Access to Broadcast Materials

Members may listen to selected committee meetings on an in-house radio network; they may also view the live broadcast of House or committee proceedings on an in-house television network. Both networks provide service in French, English or “floor” sound (the actual language of debate, without interpretation). In addition to providing a live feed which is accessible by other media apart from the parliamentary television channel, the Broadcasting Service of the House maintains a complete video archive dating back to October 1977. Members may request retrieval and replay of any part of the televised proceedings of the House and may also obtain video and/or audio copies of House and committee proceedings.

[1]

See Minutes of the meeting of the Board of Internal Economy on June 21, 1995, tabled on October 16, 1995 (Journals, p. 2012). The Parliamentary Internet Parlementaire (http://www.parl.gc.ca), which provides information on the Parliament of Canada, was created and is maintained jointly by the Senate, the House of Commons and the Library of Parliament.

[2]

See Minutes of the meeting of the Board of Internal Economy on April 12, 1994, tabled on May 12, 1994 (Journals, p. 461), and September 19, 1995, tabled on December 1, 1995 (Journals, p. 2199).

[3]

See May, 22^nd ed., pp. 84-5; and Maingot, 2^nd ed., pp. 40-4. For further information, see Chapter 3, “Privileges and Immunities”.

[4]

Section 18(1) of the Constitution Act, 1982 (R.S.C. 1985, Appendix II, No. 44) states: “The statutes, records and journals of Parliament shall be printed and published in English and French and both language versions are equally authoritative”. This repeats a portion of Section 133 of the Constitution Act, 1867 (R.S.C. 1985, Appendix II, No. 5). See also sections 4(3) and 5 of the Official Languages Act (R.S.C. 1985, c. 31 (4^th Supp.)).

[5]

Most such references are to the Order Paper or Notice Paper (see Standing Orders 39, 40, 54(1), 55(1), 90, 124, 152); there are also references to the Journals (see Standing Orders 9, 29(4), 32(3), 45(1)) and to the Debates (see Standing Orders 39(3)(b), 44.1(2)).

[6]

Standing Order 151.

[7]

Unlike some assemblies, such as the United States House of Representatives, there is no requirement to adopt or approve the minutes at the beginning of the following sitting.

[8]

Bourinot, 4^th ed., pp. 186-7.

[9]

The current system was put into place following decisions taken by the Board of Internal Economy and the adoption of the Twenty-Fourth Report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs (Journals, June 3, 1994, p. 529). For text of the report, see Minutes of Proceedings and Evidence, Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, June 1, 1994, Issue No. 14, pp. 4-5.

[10]

An order is a decision of the House governing the conduct of House or Committee business. A sessional order is effective for the remainder of the session in which it is adopted.

[11]

Journals, November 7, 1867, p. 5.

[12]

Sessional orders for the publication of the Votes and Proceedings were also adopted on the following dates: Journals,April 15, 1869, p. 8; February 15, 1870, p. 8; February 15, 1871, p. 10; April 11, 1872, p. 8; March 6, 1873, p. 5; March 27, 1874, p. 4; February 4, 1875, p. 54; February 8, 1877, p. 12.

[13]

The bound Journals, produced at the end of a session for use of the Clerk and the Library of Parliament, contain a comprehensive index, lists and other information of general interest:

proclamations of the Governor General opening and closing the session;
the Ministry in order of precedence, as of the final day of the session;
alphabetical list of Members, including constituency names and party affiliations;
alphabetical list of constituencies, including Members’ names and party affiliations.

[14]

Standing Order 9. For further information on the casting vote of the Chair, see Chapter 7, “The Speaker and Other Presiding Officers of the House”.

[15]

Standing Order 32(3). It also happens on occasion that papers are tabled by the unanimous consent of the House (see, for example, Journals, October 21, 1991, p. 496). For further information on tabling of documents, see Chapter 10, “The Daily Program”.

[16]

Standing Order 29(4). For further information on quorum, see Chapter 9, “Sittings of the House”.

[17]

Standing Order 44.1(2). For further information on recorded votes and pairing, see Chapter 12, “The Process of Debate”.

[18]

Standing Order 79(2). For further information on the Royal Recommendation, see Chapter 18, “Financial Procedures”.

[19]

Standing Order 131(5). For further information on private bills, see Chapter 23, “Private Bills Practice”.

[20]

Standing Orders 135(1) and (2), and 141(2)(b).

[21]

On one occasion when this occurred, the Speaker found that the record was correct (Debates, June 26, 1985, pp. 6203-4). There have been occasions where the decision was taken to remove items from the Votes and Proceedings (as the daily Journals were formerly known): on April 6, 1925, for example, the Speaker ruled that the government’s answer to a written question contained unnecessary facts and that it should be “expunged from the records” (Journals, p. 193); on June 6, 1944, the House ordered that a committee report “presented by mistake” be deleted from the Votes and Proceedings (Journals, p. 434); on June 7, 1973, the Speaker informed the House that an item in the Votes and Proceedings of the previous day would be expunged, a Senate public bill having inadvertently been treated as a private bill (Journals, p. 389).

[22]

See, for example, Journals, March 31, 1871, pp. 173-4; Debates, November 6, 1996, p. 6191.

[23]

See, for example, the corrigendum appended to the Votes and Proceedings for June 10, 1994.

[24]

Debates, June 4, 1992, pp. 11381-2.

[25]

Hansard is the name of the family responsible for arranging the official reporting of debates in the British House of Commons throughout most of the nineteenth century. The term is now used to refer generally to official reports of parliamentary debates (see Wilding and Laundy, pp. 340-5).

[26]

An exception took place in 1865 when, by special order of the United Canada Legislative Assembly, the debates on Confederation were officially recorded. See the history of Canadian parliamentary reporting in the Introduction to the reconstructed Debates of the Legislative Assembly of United Canada, 1841-1867, Vol. I, pp. XXVIII-LIV.

[27]

Bourinot, 2^nd ed., pp. 227-8. Members argued that the newspaper accounts were adequate, that costs to the House of setting up its own service would be prohibitive, and that official verbatim reporting would encourage excessive verbosity and lead to unnecessary lengthening of parliamentary sessions. See, for example, Debates, December 10, 1867, pp. 231-2; March 27, 1868, pp. 409-10; April 25, 1870, pp. 1176-80.

[28]

See the First and Second Reports of the Committee appointed to report on the subject of a Canadian Hansard (Journals, May 8, 1874, pp. 200-1), concurred in on May 18, 1874 (Journals, pp. 264-5).

[29]

See, for example, Debates, April 28, 1880, pp. 1815-9.

[30]

The report was presented on April 26, 1880, and concurred in on April 28, 1880 (Journals, pp. 268-9, 281).

[31]

The report was presented on March 30, 1882 (Journals, p. 231), and concurred in on April 3, 1882 (Journals, p. 242).

[32]

In 1965, after a period of experimentation, the House concurred in a recommendation to proceed to uniform pagination between the English and French versions of the Debates and other publications (Journals, June 1, 1964, pp. 381-2; April 2, 1965, pp. 1211-2).

[33]

The official language used by a Member is indicated by the marginal notes “English” and “Translation” in the English Hansard and “Français” and “Traduction” in the French. Languages other than the two official languages are occasionally used in the House; see Chapter 13, “Rules of Order and Decorum”.

[34]

Standing Order 44.1(2).

[35]

Standing Order 39(3)(b).

[36]

The House has on more than one occasion consented to dispense with the reading of a motion and to have the text printed in the Debates as if read; a recurring example is the typically lengthy motion to refer the main estimates to the various standing committees of the House (see Debates, April 30, 1980, pp. 575-6; February 26, 1998, pp. 4457-8).

Rarely, the House has consented to have material not read in the House incorporated in the Debates as part of a Member’s speech (see, for example, Debates, March 23, 1971, pp. 4533-5; December 8, 1997, pp. 2851-2).

[37]

The House has agreed to append such documents as Budget documents (see, for example, Debates, March 16, 1964, pp. 974, 988-1003), exchanges of correspondence (see, for example, Debates, December 4, 1980, pp. 5356, 5394), reports (see, for example, Journals, November 15, 1977, p. 102; Debates, November 15, 1977, pp. 920-2) and texts of addresses to Parliament by foreign dignitaries (see, for example, Journals, June 9, 1992, pp. 1660-1; Debates, June 19, 1992, pp. 12480-8). In a very unusual occurrence, the House agreed to append to the Debates the texts of a ministerial statement and two opposition responses, none of which was delivered in the House (Journals, January 25, 1990, p. 1114).

[38]

See, for example, Debates, May 11, 1970, p. 6796 (disturbance in the galleries); June 4, 1993, p. 20356 (remarks in a language other than English or French); September 29, 1994, p. 6348 (sounding of the fire alarm).

[39]

Until September 1996, the appendix was attached to Wednesday’s Debates. It also appears in an electronic version, updated as changes occur.

[40]

The blues are sent by facsimile and electronic mail and may occasionally be delivered by hand to a Member in the Chamber.

[41]

See, for example, Debates, February 18, 1997, p. 8279.

[42]

See Debates, September 24, 1985, p. 6893. At times, the blues have been referred to by Members raising points of order or questions of privilege (see, for example, Debates, March 15, 1996, pp. 786-7).

[43]

See Journals, November 1, 1973, p. 613.

[44]

See Debates, March 20, 1978, p. 3925; September 20, 1983, pp. 27299-300.

[45]

See, for example, Debates, November 19, 1969, p. 982; September 26, 1990, p. 13455; November 6, 1996, p. 6191.

[46]

See, for example, Debates, July 9, 1980, p. 2705; May 28, 1982, p. 17872.

[47]

See, for example, Debates, October 27, 1994, p. 7318; February 25, 1998, p. 4406. There have been occasions where it was decided to expunge text from the Debates (see, for example, Journals, April 6, 1925, p. 193; Debates, July 27, 1942, p. 4798; December 1, 1960, p. 391; June 30, 1972, p. 3724); however, such instances have not formed part of recent House practice.

[48]

See, for example, Debates, November 15, 1983, p. 28894. In 1995, the Speaker ordered a corrigendum to be printed, having found a substantial difference between a Member’s remarks in the House and in the Debates, and having ruled that the Member’s changes to the blues ought not to have been accepted by the Hansard editors (Debates, March 16, 1995, pp. 10618-9).

[49]

See, for example, Debates, November 28, 1978, pp. 1569-70; February 2, 1984, p. 1015; June 6, 1986, pp. 14055-6.

[50]

Debates, November 28, 1978, p. 1570.

[51]: Debates, June 6, 1986, pp. 10455-6.
[52]: In the British House of Commons, it has been established that the authoritative version of its deliberations is the printed Debates (May, 22^nd ed., p. 230).
[53]: Standing Order 54. For further information, see Chapter 12, “The Process of Debate”.
[54]: Standing Order 40.
[55]: Standing Order 152. The rue, which dates from Confederation, has precursors in the pre-Confederation assemblies. Redlich, tracing the evolution of British parliamentary practice, refers to the establishment in the seventeenth century of the “custom… of making the daily programme known to the House at the beginning of the sitting…” (Vol. I, p. 47). The 1854 Rules and Standing Orders of the Legislative Assembly of Canada, for example, require the Clerk “to lay on the Speaker’s table, every morning, previous to the meeting of the House, the order of the proceedings for the day”; and secondly, “that a copy of the same be hung up in the lobby, for the information of Members.” This seems to indicate that at that time, the daily distribution of the Order Paper to all Members was not possible and that it was produced by the Clerk, primarily for the Speaker.
[56]: For example, after a bill is read a first time, the Speaker asks when it shall be read a second time, and the usual reply is “At the next sitting of the House”. An order for the bill’s second reading is then placed on the Order Paper so that the bill might, in principle, be taken up at that time.
[57]: See, for example, Standing Order 56(1).
[58]: Bourinot, 4^th ed., pp. 295-6.
[59]: For background information, see Alexander Small, “The Use of Computers in the Bilingual Publishing and Retrieval of Parliamentary Publications,” The Table, Vol. XLII, 1974, pp. 66-72. The Standing Orders were changed in 1987 to reflect alterations to publications (Journals, June 3, 1987, pp. 1002-28; see in particular p. 1022).
[60]: This practice has a long history; see Bourinot, 1^st ed., pp. 308-9.
[61]: Standing Order 86(5). For further information on the interpretation of this rule, see Chapter 21, “Private Members’ Business”.
[62]: See Chapter 10, “The Daily Program”, and Chapter 21, “Private Members’ Business”.
[63]: Standing Order 94(2)(a).
[64]: Standing Order 81(14)(a).
[65]: Standing Order 76.1(2). Where report stage precedes second reading, the notice period is 48 hours (Standing Order 76(2)).
[66]: Standing Order 94(1).
[67]: Under the heading “Questions”, the printed Order Paper refers readers to the electronic version and to the complete list of questions on the Order Paper, which is available for consultation at the Table. At one time all questions were printed on the Order Paper. In 1983, in line with the recommendation of a special committee on procedure (see Section 9, Part II in the Third Report of the Special Committee on Standing Orders and Procedure, presented on November 5, 1982 (Journals, p. 5328) and the special order adopted by the House on November 29, 1982 (Journals, p. 5400)), questions began to be published in a Monthly Supplement to the Order Paper. The Monthly Supplement ceased to be published in 1997 when a recommendation of the Procedure and House Affairs Committee (see Minutes, Issue No. 3, pp. 26-7) was approved by the Board of Internal Economy (see Minutes of the Board’s meeting of March 18, 1997, tabled on April 25, 1997 (Journals, p. 1557)).
[68]: See Chapter 11, “Questions”.
[69]: See Speaker’s ruling, Debates, December 7, 1989, p. 6584.
[70]: For Speakers’ rulings, see Journals, January 13, 1910, p. 154; Debates, December 7, 1989, p. 6584.
[71]: See, for example, Debates, June 19, 1991, p. 2111.
[72]: This is one of the options open to Members when the government is unable to accede to the request for the production of papers. See, for example, Debates, March 18, 1981, pp. 8377-8; April 19, 1989, pp. 691-2. For more information on notices of motions for the production of papers, see Chapter 10, “The Daily Program”.
[73]: For example, notices sponsored by Jean-Claude Malépart (Montréal–Sainte-Marie) (died November 16, 1989), Catherine Callbeck (Malpeque) (resigned January 25, 1993) and Stephen Harper (Calgary West) (resigned January 14, 1997) were withdrawn. They included notices of motions for Private Members’ Business (including items in the Order of Precedence), notices of written questions and notices of motions for the production of papers. Private Members’ bills awaiting introduction and notices of motions under Routine Proceedings would also be withdrawn in such circumstances.; In another instance, the House concurred in a committee report by unanimous consent, following which an earlier notice of motion to concur in the same report was removed from the Order Paper (Order Paper and Notice Paper, November 25, 1997, p. 9; Journals, Noverber 25, 1997, p. 257; Order Paper and Notice Paper, November 27, 1997, p. 10).
[74]: Debates, September 27, 1971, p. 8173.
[75]: In the case of Private Members’ Business, it must first be selected following the draw for the Order of Precedence (Standing Order 87(5)).
[76]: Standing Order 64. See, for example, Journals, March 12, 1993, p. 2627; Debates, March 12, 1993, pp. 16925-6; Journals, May 11, 1994, p. 451; Debates, May 11, 1994, p. 4211.
[77]: Standing Order 55. See also Chapter 12, “The Process of Debate”.
[78]: See, for example, the Special Order Papers published on September 23, 1997 (before the opening of a first session), February 27, 1996 (before the opening of a subsequent session), and August 11, 1987 and September 19, 1994 (during an adjournment).
[79]: See section 9 in Part II of the Third Report of the Special Committee on Standing Orders and Procedure, presented on November 5, 1982 (Journals, p. 5328). Although the report was not concurred in, a motion adopted on November 29, 1982 (Journals, p. 5400) put this and other portions of the report into effect. The new document appeared for the first time on January 17, 1983.
[80]: See Chapter 21, “Private Members’ Business”; for further information on the weekly business statement or “Thursday statement”, see Chapter 10, “The Daily Program”.
[81]: Standing Order 40(2). This was emphasized in a ruling by the Speaker (Debates, March 20, 1997, pp. 9281-2).
[82]: Standing Orders 108(1)(a) and 113(5).
[83]: For example, committee reports may be printed and distributed from time to time in accordance with guidelines established by the Board of Internal Economy (see Board’s decision of October 29, 1986). For further information on this and other powers of committees, see Chapter 20, “Committees”.
[84]: Beauchesne, 6^th ed., p. 233.
[85]: See Debates, March 16, 1993, pp. 17071-3. See also Chapter 20, “Committees”.
[86]: Standing Orders 69(1) and 70. See also Chapter 16, “The Legislative Process”.
[87]: For example, the address to both Houses of Parliament in the Commons Chamber by Richard Nixon, President of the United States, on April 14, 1972, was televised.
[88]: See Debates, June 5, 1967, pp. 1157-66; March 26, 1969, pp. 7158-79; Journals, March 23, 1970, p. 633.
[89]: See Journals, June 30, 1972, pp. 471-86.
[90]: “Television Broadcasting of Parliament: A Feasibility Study,” Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Ottawa, May 1976. The study was done by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation for the President of the Privy Council. An earlier version, dated April 12, 1976, was tabled in the House (Journals, June 8, 1976, p. 1337). See Alistair Fraser, “Televising the Canadian House of Commons”, The Table, Vol. XLVII for 1979, pp. 66-71.
[91]: See Journals, January 25, 1977, p. 287.
[92]: Debates, October 17, 1977, pp. 8201-2. See also Speaker Jerome’s memoir, Mr. Speaker, Toronto: McClelland and Stewart Limited, 1985, pp. 113-22.
[93]: The matter was referred to the Standing Committee on Elections, Privileges, Procedure and Private Members’ Business on June 8, 1989 (Journals, p. 340).
[94]: The Committee’s Ninth and final report, entitled “Watching the House at Work”, was deemed presented on December 29, 1989 (Journals, January 22, 1990, p. 1078).
[95]: In one of its recommendations, the committee suggested that the production and direction of House of Commons broadcasting should be delegated, under the supervision of a House committee, to the programming director who would exercise professional judgement in the choice of camera angles or shots, so as to “convey the full flavour of the House of Commons, and to ensure that the parliamentary broadcasts provide a dignified and accurate reflection of the House”. See “Watching the House at Work”, the Ninth Report of the Standing Committee on Elections, Privileges, Procedure and Private Members’ Business, pp. 3-6, 8-10. (The report was deemed presented on December 29, 1989; see Journals, January 22, 1990, p. 1078.)
[96]: Journals, February 23, 1990, p. 1277. Later in the session, on June 19, 1990 (Debates, pp. 12930-48), a motion to concur in the committee report was debated but not disposed of.
[97]: An example would be the production of informational videos (see the Nineteenth Report of the Standing Committee on Privileges and Elections presented on November 23, 1990 (Journals, p. 2289), and concurred in on December 19, 1990 (Journals, p. 2510)).
[98]: See the Twenty-Second, Forty-Third and Fifty-Seventh Reports of the Standing Committee on House Management, presented on February 12, 1992 (Journals, p. 1009), June 5, 1992 (Journals, p. 1632), and December 4, 1992 (Journals, p. 2285), respectively, and concurred in on April 29, 1992 (Journals, p. 1337), June 8, 1992 (Journals, p. 1638), and December 11, 1992 (Journals, p. 2399), respectively.
[99]: See, for example, paragraph 74 of the Procedure and Organization Committee’s report on broadcasting, presented on June 30, 1972 (Journals, pp. 471-86). In 1979, for example, a Member crossed the floor of the House to sit with another party, but the event was not captured by the cameras because to have done so would have contravened the broadcasting guidelines established by the House (Debates, March 8, 1979, pp. 3943-4). In another instance, when a point of order was raised as to the style of coverage of a budget presentation, the Speaker ruled that the coverage had not been consistent with previous budget presentations and suggested that the guidelines then in effect be observed until such time as the House decided otherwise (Debates, May 28, 1985, pp. 5146-7). In 1995, the House agreed to the temporary installation of stationary television cameras on the floor of the House for the address of the President of the United States (Journals, February 20, 1995, p. 1151). Two cameras were placed next to the Bar of the House, one operated by Canadian television networks and one operated by the American networks.; In a 1993 case before the Supreme Court of Canada, a broadcaster had applied to film the proceedings of a provincial legislature from the public galleries, using its own cameras (New Brunswick Broadcasting Co. v. Nova Scotia (Speaker of the House of Assembly) [1993] 1 S.C.R. 319). The Speaker of the Assembly contended that to do so would interfere with the decorum and orderly proceedings of the Assembly, and moreover that the Assembly would have no control over the production or use of the film. The Court ruled in a mojority opinion that in excluding the cameras from the gallery, the House of Assembly was exercising its right to control its internal proceedings and its right to exclude strangers from the House and its precinct. Five separate opinions were delivered in the Court’s 7-1 decision. They are discussed at length in Maingot, 2^nd ed.; see in particular pp. 306-18.
[100]: Standing Order 108(3)(a)(v).

[101]: In 1991, the CBC announced that it would no longer fund CPAC and the following year, a new cable consortium formed, called the Cable Parliamentary Channel (CPAC). In 1996, it was renamed the Cable Public Affairs Channel (CPAC).
[102]: However, the unedited images are “enhanced” by House of Commons broadcast staff. An example would be the insertion of information at the bottom of the screen, such as the name of the Member or committee witness speaking, or the subject of debate.
[103]: Journals, January 25, 1977, p. 287.
[104]: See the Fifty-Seventh Report of the Standing Committee on House Management (Minutes of Proceedings and Evidence, Issue 42, pp. 3-4), presented on December 4, 1992 (Journals, p. 2285), and concurred in on December 11, 1992 (Journals, p. 2399). The adoption of these new guidelines on wider angles was preceded by a trial period; see the Committee’s Twenty-Second and Forty-Third Reports, concurred in on April 29, 1992 (Journals, p. 1337), and June 8, 1992 (Journals, p. 1638), respectively.
[105]: In what turned out to be its last report, the special committee raised a concern about the applicability of the “electronic Hansard” concept to broadcasting of committee proceedings and alluded to the need to consider procedures for televising committees (Journals, November 23, 1977, p. 130).
[106]: See Debates, November 6, 1980, pp. 4531-2.
[107]: A number of these were committees studying constitutional or financial matters. For further information, see the section on broadcasting in Chapter 20, “Committees”.
[108]: Standing Order 119.1, adopted on April 11, 1991 (Journals, pp. 2904-5, 2929).
[109]: See the Twenty-Third Report of the Standing Committee on House Management, presented on February 14, 1992 (Journals, pp. 1024-5), and concurred in on March 27, 1992 (Journals, p. 1230).
[110]: The Eighty-Third Report of the then Standing Committee on House Management, presented on April 2, 1993 (Journals, p. 2784), was concurred in on April 28, 1993 (Journals, p. 2873). See also Chapter 20, “Committees”.

Please note —

As the rules and practices of the House of Commons are subject to change, users should remember that this edition of Procedure and Practice was published in January 2000. Standing Order changes adopted since then, as well as other changes in practice, are not reflected in the text. The Appendices to the book, however, have been updated and now include information up to the end of the 38^th Parliament in November 2005.

To confirm current rules and practice, please consult the latest version of the Standing Orders on the Parliament of Canada Web site.

For further information about the procedures of the House of Commons, please contact the Table Research Branch at (613) 996-3611 or by e-mail at trbdrb@parl.gc.ca.

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