House of Commons Procedure and Practice
Edited by Robert Marleau and Camille Montpetit
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6. The Physical and Administrative Setting

[101] 
See the exchange of correspondence between the Speaker of the House and the Auditor General, tabled on November 1, 1979 (Journals, p. 162) and printed by order of the House (Journals, November 2, 1979, p. 168) as an appendix to the Debates (Debates, November 2, 1979, pp. 922-6).
[102] 
The interim report was tabled in the House (Journals, November 1 and 2, 1979, pp. 162, 168) and a summary report appeared as Chapter 5 of the Auditor General’s report for the fiscal year ended March 31, 1980 (tabled on December 11, 1980; see Journals, p. 840). The full audit report was filed as an exhibit with the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Minutes of Proceedings, February 10, 1981, Issue No. 21, p. 3).
[103] 
See paragraphs 5.8-5.10 of the Report of the Auditor General for the fiscal year ended March 31, 1980.
[104] 
See page 9 of the Report of the Audit of the House of Commons Administration, tabled on November 21, 1991 (Journals, p. 703; Debates, pp. 5158-9).
[105] 
For example, the Parliament of Canada Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. P-1; Salaries Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. S-3; Official Languages Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. 31 (4th Supp.); and Canada Post Corporation Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-10, s. 35.
[106] 
See, for example, Standing Orders 22, 107, 121, 148-59.
[107] 
May, 22nd ed., p. 188.
[108]
For further information on the role of the Speaker, see Chapter 7, “The Speaker and Other Presiding Officers of the House”.
[109] 
In 1998-99, the House of Commons administration under the Speaker’s jurisdiction comprised some 1,340 person-years (not including Members’ staff) and had a budget of approximately $235.2 million. Person-year figures were presented to the Procedure and House Affairs Committee by the Clerk of the House on April 30, 1998 (see Issue 23 of the Committee proceedings). For budget figures, see 1998-99 Estimates, Part I and II, The Government Expenditure Plan and the Main Estimates, p. 18-2, tabled in the House on February 26, 1998 (Journals, p. 534).
[110] 
S.C. 1867-68, c. 27.
[111] 
Until November 1997, when these provisions came into effect (Bill C-13, An Act to amend the Parliament of Canada Act (composition of the Board of Internal Economy) received Royal Assent on November 27, 1997), the Deputy Speaker was automatically a Member of the Board of Internal Economy. Peter Milliken (Kingston and the Islands), who was Deputy Speaker at the time, was subsequently appointed to the Board as one of the government’s representatives (Journals, December 11, 1997, p. 391).
Following the adoption of these provisions early in the First Session of the Thirty-Sixth Parliament (1997-99), the composition of the Board was as follows: the Speaker, two Cabinet Ministers, the nominee of the Leader of the Opposition, one representative from each of the four opposition caucuses (Reform Party, Bloc Québécois, New Democratic Party and Progressive Conservative Party) and three Members appointed by the government caucus.
[112] 
Parliament of Canada Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. P-1, s. 50 as amended by c. 42 (1st supp.), s. 2 and S.C. 1991, c. 20, s. 2 (s. 50(4)). See, for example, Journals, January 18, 1994, p. 18 (appointment of several Members at the beginning of a Parliament); September 18, 1995, p. 1882 (appointment of one Member to replace another).
[113] 
Parliament of Canada Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. P-1, s. 50 as amended by S.C. 1991, c. 20, s. 2. The text is set out as Form 3 of the Schedule to the Act.
[114] 
Parliament of Canada Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. P-1, s. 51 as amended by S.C. 1991, c. 20, s. 2.
[115] 
Parliament of Canada Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. P-1 as amended by c. 42 (1st supp.), s. 2 and S.C. 1991, c. 20, s. 2 (s. 53).
[116] 
Parliament of Canada Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. P-1, s. 50 as amended by c. 42 (1st supp.), s. 2 and S.C. 1991, c. 20, s. 2 (s. 52.1).
[117] 
Parliament of Canada Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. P-1 as amended by S.C. 1991, c. 20, s. 2 and S.C. 1997, c. 32, s. 2 (s. 52(2)). Formerly, the Deputy Speaker or a person designated by the Speaker or Deputy Speaker was required to be present and to chair the meeting.
[118] 
Parliament of Canada Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. P-1 as amended by S.C. 1991, c. 20, s. 2 (s. 52.3).
[119] 
Parliament of Canada Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. P-1 as amended by S.C. 1991, c. 20, s. 2 (s. 52.4).
[120] 
Standing Order 121.
[121] 
Standing Order 148(2).
[122] 
R.S.C. 1985, c. 33 (4th Supp.), ss. 3, 4(2). The Board of Internal Economy issues guidelines to Members in connection with their role as employers (Manual of Allowances and Services, House of Commons, January 1999).
[123] 
Standing Order 37(2). See, for example, Debates, February 5, 1986, p. 10473. See also Chapter 11, “Questions”.
[124] 
Parliament of Canada Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. P-1 as amended by S.C. 1991, c. 20, s. 2 (s. 52.5(3)).
[125] 
Standing Order 148(1).
[126] 
See Debates, February 17, 1994, p. 1507. See, for example, the minutes of the Board’s meeting of November 5, 1996, tabled on December 6, 1996 (Journals, p. 975); March 18, 1997, tabled on April 25, 1997 (Journals, p. 1557); May 26, 1998, tabled on June 11, 1998 (Journals, p. 1021).
[127] 
Standing Order 108(3)(a). For further information on this Committee, see Chapter 20, “Committees”. See, for example, statements of the Speaker in appearances before the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs: Minutes and Evidence of Proceedings, April 12, 1994, Issue No. 7, pp. 5-10; April 4, 1995, Issue No. 48, pp. 6-11; October 26, 1995, Issue No. 91; May 30, 1996, Issue No. 16; April 8, 1997, Issue No. 39; April 30, 1998, Issue No. 23; March 11, 1999, Issue No. 54.
[128] 
Since Confederation, 10 Clerks have served the House of Commons (see Appendix 6, “Clerks of the House of Commons Since 1867”). The office of Clerk has a long history in British parliamentary tradition. The first official appointment of a Clerk to the Commons took place in 1363, though from much earlier times kings had employed officials to record their decisions and those of their advisors. In the language of the time, the word “clerk” simply indicated a person who could read and write. Thus, the early Clerks of the House were servants of the Crown appointed to assist the Commons with its business. Their duties included reading petitions and bills. As the Commons gained in stature and recognition, its Clerk became more identified with the institution. In the mid-sixteenth century, Clerks began keeping notes on proceedings in the House, and these evolved into the Journals. During the tumultuous sittings of the Long Parliament (1640-53), the role of Clerk grew to include advising the Chair and the House on procedural matters (Wilding and Laundy, pp. 134-5). For a historical account, see Philip Marsden, The Officers of the Commons 1363-1978, London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1979.
[129] 
For examples of recent appointments, see Journals, October 9, 1979, p. 18; September 18, 1987, p. 1485. The appointment of the Clerk is provided for by the Public Service Employment Act (R.S.C. 1985, c. P-33, s. 40(d)).
[130] 
Standing Order 151.
[131] 
Standing Order 151.
[132] 
Standing Order 152.
[133] 
Parliament of Canada Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. P-1 as amended by S.C. 1991, c. 20, s. 2 (s. 50(5)).
[134] 
Parliament of Canada Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. P-1, s. 49(1). This section of the Act also requires the Clerk to swear the oath before the Speaker of the House.
[135] 
The office of Sergeant-at-Arms originated in the early years of the British Parliament, when mace-bearing members of the Royal bodyguard were assigned to attend the Speaker at sittings of the House of Commons. With the Sergeant-at-Arms and the Mace, the House could exercise its powers of arrest, trial and imprisonment and pursue its lengthy struggle to establish its rights and privileges. (See the section in this chapter on the Mace. For a detailed history of the office, see Marsden.) See Appendix 7 for a list of Sergeants-at-Arms of the House of Commons since Confederation.
[136]
For example, in the parade escorting the Speaker to and from the Chamber, or to the Senate Chamber for the reading of the Speech from the Throne.
[137] 
In 1849, when rioters entered the Parliament Building in Montreal, the Sergeant-at-Arms reportedly drew his sword while attempting to protect the Mace (Beauchesne, Canada’s Parliament Buildings, pp. 56-7).
[138] 
Since 1920, the House of Commons has had its own security service under the Sergeant-at-Arms. Prior to this, security was the responsibility of the Dominion Police, which in 1920 was merged with the Royal North West Mounted Police to create a new national force, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). (For further information, see History of the House of Commons Security Services 1920-1995, Security Services Directorate, House of Commons, 1995.) With the Speaker’s permission, other police forces (such as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police or the City of Ottawa police force) may enter the buildings on official business (Maingot, 2nd ed., pp. 171-3).
[139] 
The appointment to the position of Deputy Clerk has been made by Order in Council (Mary Anne Griffith: see Journals, September 18, 1987, p. 1485; Camille Montpetit: see Canada Gazette, Part I, November 7, 1998, p. 3036; Journals, February 11, 1999, p. 1498). In Britain, the post of Clerk Assistant is second to that of Clerk and dates from 1640, when the first such appointment was made (May, 22nd ed., p. 198; for historical background, see Marsden, pp. 45-8).
[140] 
Table Officers are part of a corps of procedural staff, trained by means of an established career structure which provides experience in a variety of procedural fields. See “The Clerkship as a Profession” by C. S. Koester in The Table, Vol. LVII for 1989, pp. 35-43.
[141] 
See, for example, the appointments of John George Bourinot (Journals, February 17, 1879, p. 8; Debates, February 17, 1879, cols. 5-6) and Arthur Beauchesne (Journals, February 15, 1916, pp. 79-80; February 17, 1916, p. 85).
[142] 
See, for example, the appointments of Thomas Munro Fraser (Journals, February 5, 1925, p. 1); Charles Beverley Koester (Journals, October 14, 1975, p. 754); Philip A.C. Laundy (Journals, March 4, 1983, p. 5672); Robert Marleau (Journals, March 4, 1983, p. 5672); and Mary Anne Griffith (Journals, January 21, 1985, p. 224).

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