House of Commons Procedure and Practice
Edited by Robert Marleau and Camille Montpetit
2000 EditionMore information …

Introductory Pages

Acknowledgements

As the Senior Editors of House of Commons Procedure and Practice, Robert Marleau and I take great pride in this comprehensive study of Canadian parliamentary jurisprudence. As hard as some have laboured on this project, it must be pointed out that this book is the culmination of several years of work by many talented, experienced and dedicated people. I wish to acknowledge their efforts in bringing this milestone project to fruition.

I particularly wish to salute Debra Manojlovic Ford, Joann Garbig and Johan Fong who assiduously worked on this project from the laborious beginnings in 1993 to the rewarding end in 1999. I also want to give special thanks to an esteemed colleague, Deputy Principal Clerk Michael Lukyniuk, who, for the last two years, was responsible for the management of all the resources assigned to this project. His contribution to the final stages of the drafting and editing of the English and French texts was crucial in meeting the production deadlines.

It all began in earnest in late 1993. The planning of this project commenced in the Table Research Branch of the House of Commons under the direction of Principal Clerk Audrey O’Brien and Deputy Principal Clerks Marc Bosc and Marie-Andrée Lajoie, with the support of Deputy Clerk Mary Anne Griffith. The planning exercise involved several aspects, among them: the creation of chapter outlines, the identification of research methodology, and the collection of research material. Joann Garbig, Suzanne Kinsman and Debra Manojlovic Ford were the key procedural researchers involved in this early phase of the project.

By early 1996, several rough drafts of chapters had been written by the team of Joann Garbig, Debra Manojlovic Ford, John Phillips and Pat Steenberg under the direction of Deputy Principal Clerk David Gussow. As the project advanced, I became more directly involved, as one of the Senior Editors, in reviewing the texts and providing procedural feedback and criticism on substance and form. Terry Moore was asked to assist in the review exercise. With the impending retirement of David Gussow, Deputy Principal Clerk Michael Lukyniuk took over direction of the team in late 1997 and saw the project to completion.

By this time, the work had advanced to the point where chapters were being sent to the Clerk of the House for review and publication objectives were being set. In order to meet the approaching deadline of February 2000, additional researcher-writers were added to the team: Wayne Cole, Diane Deschamps, Jean-Jacques Gariépy, Patrice Martin and Terry Moore; in addition to their other duties, some procedural clerks in other services were asked to assist in the drafting of specific chapters: Deputy Principal Clerk Marc Bosc, Monique Hamilton and Beverley Isles; still others were asked for assistance in research support: Paulette Nadeau and Suzanne Verville, as well as administrative assistant Fiona Bladon. The unstinting work on the inputting, revising and formatting of the text by Johan Fong, assisted later by Dany Lamarque, has been a tremendous boost throughout the life of this project.

Besides researching and writing, this project involved other resources. The indexing in both languages was undertaken by the dedicated team in the Index Service of the House under the direction of Michel Boileau. The Translation Bureau assigned a team of seasoned translators to handle the heavy demands of the project under the supervision of Dominique Chauvaux: Ghislain Dion, Jacques Dubé, Laurent Fillion, Patricia Galbraith, Frèdelin Leroux Jr. and Denis Samson. In keeping with its reputation, the Library of Parliament provided a prompt and efficient service in responding to our numerous requests for reference material. English and French texts were reviewed in the Table Research Branch by Pierre Couture and Diane Deschamps before being sent to the publisher. Aspects relating to the production of the book — finance, relations with the publisher, arrangements for indexing, and distribution — were handled by Diane Diotte and Lucile McGregor under the supervision of Deputy Principal Clerk Eric Janse.

Such a project also required a corporate commitment and contribution from various services of the House of Commons. Of great use to the project were written documents and reference material from the following branches: Legal Services, Curator’s Services, Committees and Legislative Services, Financial Services and the Table Research Branch. In addition, logistical support was regularly provided by the House Proceedings and Parliamentary Exchanges Directorate. Throughout this project, valuable information and advice were received from procedural clerks not directly involved in researching or writing; workloads may also have been increased for others because colleagues were given special assignments on this project. The indirect contribution of these individuals is much appreciated.

A number of “strangers” [1] also made important contributions to this project and I wish to take this opportunity to thank Judith A. LaRocque and Anthony P. Smyth from the Office of the Secretary to the Governor General, Antonine Campbell from the Office of the Auditor General, and Judy Charles from the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer for reviewing portions of the text.

Though “strangers” in the parliamentary sense of the term but certainly no strangers to the world of parliamentary procedure, two other truly professional individuals were key contributors to the editing phase of the manual. Both Lynda Chapin, a former public servant with practical knowledge and experience in parliamentary affairs, and Queen’s University Professor C.E.S. Franks, a recognized authority in Canada’s parliamentary system, gave us invaluable feedback and provided an essential service in pointing out minor and not-so-minor errors and omissions. I wish to thank them for having read the entire manuscript with such close attention and for providing concrete suggestions on how it could be improved.

Finally, I wish to acknowledge the special contribution of the Clerk of the House who, after setting the daring publication date of February 2000, gave his full support to the resourcing requirements and, despite the many claims on his time, managed to fully respect the deadlines which the team imposed for the final review of the draft chapters.

A work of this kind requires vision and a long-term commitment since it attempts to encapsulate the wisdom of generations of parliamentarians. The participants in this project were well aware of the dimensions of this daunting task and they are to be congratulated on having produced such a fine record. As is the usual practice with publications of this nature, any errors or omissions in the text remain the responsibility of the Senior Editors.

Camille Montpetit
Deputy Clerk of the House of Commons
September 1999

[1]
The procedural term “strangers” refers to those not normally found on the floor of the House. In keeping with the style of the book, might I add: For further information on “strangers”, see Chapter 6, “The Physical and Administrative Setting”.

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 38th 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.