At Work in Committees
Committee work is an important part of Members' duties.
It is here that Members study proposed legislation, amend
bills and examine departmental spending plans. Committees
can initiate their own inquiries or study issues referred
to them by the House. These issues relate to areas of
public policy such as the environment, defence and
health.
Legislative Process
Committees can ask interested parties to submit briefs
and may travel across Canada or abroad to gather
information and hear from individuals and groups with an
interest in the subject. At the conclusion of a study,
the committee may present a report to the House with its
views and recommendations.
The House of Commons has 24 standing committees, each
consisting of 12 Members, as well as 2 standing joint
committees.
How Committee Members Are
Selected
To determine membership on House committees, lists of
candidates are prepared by the party whips. These lists
are submitted to the Standing Committee on Procedure and
House Affairs, which submits a final list to the House of
Commons for approval.
Committee representation is based on party standings in
the House of Commons. Most standing committees are
chaired by members of the governing party. Each chair is
assisted by a first vice-chair, who is a member of the
Official Opposition, and a second vice-chair, who is a
member of an opposition party other than the Official
Opposition.
There are exceptions to this rule. The following are
standing committees that are chaired by a member of the
Official Opposition with a first vice-chair from the
governing party and a second vice-chair from an
opposition party other than the Official Opposition:
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Public Accounts
-
Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics
-
Status of Women
-
Government Operations and Estimates
-
Scrutiny of Regulations.
Committee Studies
STANDING COMMITTEES OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS FOR THE
39TH PARLIAMENT
Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development
Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics
Agriculture and Agri-Food
Canadian Heritage
Citizenship and Immigration
Environment and Sustainable Development
Finance
Fisheries and Oceans
Foreign Affairs and International Development
Government Operations and Estimates
Health
Human Resources, Social Development and the Status of
Persons with Disabilities
Industry, Science and Technology
International Trade
Justice and Human Rights
National Defence
Natural Resources
Official Languages
Procedure and House Affairs
Public Accounts
Public Safety and National Security
Status of Women
Transport, Infrastructure and Communities
Veterans Affairs
STANDING JOINT COMMITTEES
Library of Parliament
Scrutiny of Regulations
In addition to studying legislation, committees
investigate many subjects. Over the past year, House of
Commons committees held a total of 1,087 meetings and
produced 190 committee reports.
Visit the Parliament of Canada Web site at www.parl.gc.ca
for a complete list of these reports (available on the
respective committee's page or on the global committee
page).
The following partial list offers a glimpse of the range
of subjects studied by committees:
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the role of a public broadcaster in the 21st century
-
taxation
-
small craft harbours
-
Canada's presence in Afghanistan
-
prescription drugs
-
the economic security of women
-
Canada's trade and investment relations with the Arab
states, the European Union and Southeast Asia
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Witness Protection Program
-
the Personal Information Protection and Electronic
Documents Act
-
refugees
-
counterfeiting and piracy of intellectual property
-
the vitality of official language minority communities.
Unique Characteristics of
Committee Work
By virtue of their smaller size relative to the Chamber,
committees allow Members to examine complex matters in
detail and help to develop their expertise in specific
areas of public policy. Committees are also a forum where
Members can hear from experts on a range of topics and
have this information placed on the public record.
HOUSE COMMITTEE STATISTICS FOR 2007-2008
Total number of meetings: 1,087
Total number of sitting hours: 1,840
Total number of witnesses: 3,060
Total number of reports: 190
A committee is not a final decision-making body. When it
has finished considering a matter, it presents its
findings and recommendations in a report to the House.
Committees can influence policies and decision-making,
and their reports may include a request that the
government provide a comprehensive response within 120
days.
Organization of Committees
OUTREACH PROFILE
Library of Parliament
In addition to the valuable support it provides to the
Senate and the House of Commons, the Library of
Parliament is an important resource for all Canadians.
Accessing more than 17 linear kilometres of materials
in the Library's collection, staff respond to hundreds
of requests for information and reference services
daily from Members' offices, as well as from
parliamentary officials, committees and associations.
Through its public programs, the Library also provides
citizens with information and services concerning
Parliament, such as programs and products for teachers,
print and electronic publications, guided tours,
exhibits and on-site and e-commerce parliamentary
boutiques.
Every standing committee is led by a chair and two
vice-chairs. The chair is the presiding officer and
spokesperson, and casts a vote only when there is a tie.
The chair's duties include maintaining order and decorum
and deciding on questions of order and procedure, as well
as leading the work of the committee.
The committee clerk is a non-partisan and independent
officer who serves all members of a given committee. As
an expert in the rules of the House of Commons, the clerk
may be asked to advise on procedural questions. The clerk
is the coordinator, organizer and liaison officer for the
committee and is in frequent contact with members' staff,
government departments and members of the public.
TYPES OF COMMITTEES
Standing Committee
A permanent committee that oversees the activities of
government departments and studies proposed legislation
and estimates.
Special Committee
Appointed by the House of Commons to inquire into
specific matters; a special committee ceases to exist
after it presents a final report to the House.
Legislative Committee
Studies a bill referred to it by the House and reports
it back to the House with or without amendments. A
legislative committee ceases to exist once the
committee has submitted its report to the House.
Joint Committee
Consists of a proportionate number of Senators and
Members of the House of Commons.
Subcommittee
A standing committee may delegate any or all of its
powers to a subcommittee, except the power to report
directly to the House of Commons.
OUTREACH PROFILE
United Way
Every year, the House of Commons organizes fundraising
events to support the United Way campaign. In 2000,
employees contributed more than $40,000-surpassing
their objective by 15%. In 2005, employees more than
doubled that sum, raising $84,872 in contributions. And
in 2007, this campaign raised $109,479 in
contributions.
The organizers of the United Way campaign reveal the
partial amount collected in 2007 to the Clerk.
Photo: © House of Commons
Hansard is the official report of parliamentary
debates. It is posted online on the Parliament of
Canada Web site at www.parl.gc.ca,
and published in hard-copy format.