Resolving into a Committee of the Whole
When the Order of the Day is read for the
House to go into a Committee of the Whole to consider a resolution or
motion [62]
or when it is ordered that a bill be considered in a Committee of the
Whole, [63]
no question is put. [64]
The Speaker leaves the Chair and exits the
Chamber. [65]
The Chair
of the Committee is taken by the Chairman, Deputy Chairman or Assistant Deputy
Chairman of Committees of the Whole. The Chairman of the Committee sits in the
Clerk’s chair at the head of the Table, and the Table Officers sit to the
right and left of the Chairman. One of the Table Officers acts as the clerk of
the Committee. [66]
If legislation is being discussed in a
Committee of the Whole, the Minister or Parliamentary Secretary responsible for
the legislation sits at one of the front row desks on the government side of the
Chamber. The Minister acts both as a witness, by answering any questions Members
may have, and as a member of the Committee, participating in debate, voting and
moving amendments to the bill, should he or she wish to do so. The Minister may
be assisted by one or two departmental officials who are seated at a small table
on the floor of the House in front of the Minister. Before proceedings begin,
the officials are escorted by a senior page to their place; they are escorted
out of the Chamber immediately after the Committee rises and before the Speaker
takes the Chair. This is the only occasion when persons other than Members and
House staff are permitted on the floor of the Chamber when the House is sitting.