Committees

Introduction

At the beginning of Speaker Parent’s mandate, a number of changes were made to the committee structure, including the elimination of the “envelope” system, which had been created when the Standing Orders were amended in April 1991 and which had grouped the committees into five envelopes: management, human resources, natural resources, economics and departmental. Other changes involved committee restructuring and name changes, the creation of two new standing joint committees—the Standing Joint Committee on the Library of Parliament and the Standing Joint Committee on Official Languages—, and the addition of “associate members” to the membership list. The rules governing the legislative process were amended to allow committees to develop and present bills to the House, and to allow bills to be referred to committee before second reading. Rules were also added concerning committees’ powers to examine the plans and priorities of departments and agencies whose budgets they reviewed. The mandate of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs was expanded to allow the committee to review any issue relating to the election of members to the House. Committees were also authorized to use House of Commons facilities to broadcast their proceedings.

Like his predecessors, Speaker Parent declined to interfere in the internal matters of committees unless a report from the committee in question was submitted to the House. However, the Speaker frequently had to rule on committee reports, especially their premature disclosure.

Speaker Parent also ruled on matters relating to the substitution of committee members and declared void the votes cast by a member who did not meet the requirements for associate membership on a committee. He ruled on committees’ obligation to report private members’ bills, on committee scheduling conflicts, and time limits on statements by witnesses and members.