House of Commons Procedure and Practice
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20. Committees

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[151]: See, for example, Journals, March 26, 1996, p. 84; November 5, 1997, p. 196; November 18, 1997, p. 225.
[152]: See, for example, Journals, August 4, 1982, pp. 5266-7; May 28, 1984, pp. 665-6; October 9, 1986, p. 66.
[153]: Standing Order 108(1)(a).
[154]: Standing Order 108(1)(b). For further information on associate members, see section below, “Substitutions — Associate Members”.
[155]: Standing Order 107(6).
[156]: Standing Order 113(6).
[157]: Committees may decide to forgo a sub-committee on agenda and procedure. See, for example, Standing Committee on National Health and Welfare, Minutes of Proceedings and Evidence, October 21, 1986, Issue No. 1, p. 3.
[158]: See, for example, Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Minutes, October 23, 1997, Meeting No. 4.
[159]: See, for example, Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-food, Minutes, October 7, 1997, Meeting No. 1.
[160]: For example, the Sub-committee on Human Rights and International Development (Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Minutes, October 23, 1997, Meeting No. 4); the Sub-committee on Private Members’ Business (Standing Committee on House Management, Minutes of Proceedings and Evidence, May 21, 1991, Issue No. 1, p. 5; February 3, 1994, Issue No. 1, p. 9; Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, Minutes, February 29, 1996, Meeting No. 1; September 29, 1997, Meeting No. 1).
[161]: See, for example, the Sub-committee for the Study of Sports in Canada (Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, Minutes, November 5, 1997, Meeting No. 5).
[162]: See, for example, Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development, Minutes, March 7, 1996, Meeting No. 1.
[163]: See, for example, Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, Minutes, November 5, 1997, Meeting No. 5.
[164]: See, for example, Journals, March 27, 1990, p. 1417.
[165]: Standing Order 108(1)(a) does not allow standing committees to delegate to a sub-committee the power to report directly to the House. A similar restriction is usually placed in the order of reference establishing a special committee. The House has, on occasion, given a sub-committee the power to report directly. See Journals, February 17, 1993, p. 2523; February 23, 1993, p. 2546 (Sub-committee on the recodification of the general part of the Criminal Code of the Standing Committee on Justice and Solicitor General); and Journals, April 19, 1993, p. 2796; April 20, 1993, pp. 2812-4; May 28, 1993, pp. 3057-71 (Sub-committee on Bill C-62 (An Act respecting telecommunications) of the Standing Committee on Communications and Culture).
[166]: See, for example, Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Minutes, October 23, 1997, Meeting No. 4.
[167]: See, for example, Journals, April 24, 1985, p. 506; May 10, 1985, p. 602; December 5, 1995, p. 2208.
[168]: Standing Order 104(1). On at least one occasion, the House did not have committees struck during the first session of a Parliament; the striking committee was established at the beginning of the second session. See Journals, April 6, 1989, p. 50.
[169]: See, for example, Journals, September 23, 1997, pp. 12-3.
[170]: Formerly, the House established a committee solely to act as a striking committee. This was last done in 1989 (see Journals, April 6, 1989, p. 50). In 1991, the role of striking committee was included in the mandate of the House Management Committee (Journals, April 11, 1991, pp. 2905-32, in particular p. 2922) and is now part of the mandate of the Procedure and House Affairs Committee (Journals, January 25, 1994, pp. 58-61).
[171]: By practice, the House names the whips of all parties to the Procedure and House Affairs Committee. The Committee adopts at its organization meeting a motion similar to the following: “That the five Whips be delegated the authority to act as the Striking Committee pursuant to Standing Orders 104, 113 and 114 and, provided that the recommendations are unanimous and a copy of the report is signed by all five Whips, or their representatives, they present their recommendations directly to the Chair of the Committee for presentation to the House on behalf of the Committee” (Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, Minutes, September 29, 1997, Meeting No. 1). The number of whips set out in the motion varies from Parliament to Parliament with the number of recognized parties in the House.
[172]: One independent Member, Anthony Roman (York North), was a member of two committees (see Standing Committee on Public Accounts, Minutes of Proceedings and Evidence, March 18, 1986, Issue No. 32, p. 10; Standing Joint Committee on Regulations and other Statutory Instruments, Minutes of Proceedings and Evidence, February 5, 1987, Issue No. 4, p. 4).
[173]: The Speaker was formerly named ex officio joint chair of the Standing Joint Committees on the Library and on the Parliamentary Restaurant. The Speaker may, on occasion, chair a special committee. Speaker Jerome served as Chair of the Special Committee on the Rights and Immunities of Members and of the Special Committee on TV and Radio Broadcasting of Proceedings of the House of Commons. See Journals, December 13, 1976, p. 230, and January 25, 1977, p. 287-8.
[174]: Chair occupants, other than the Speaker, may be called upon to act as chairs of legislative committees pursuant to Standing Order 112. Deputy Speaker Danis served as Chair of the Special Committee on the Review of the Parliament of Canada Act (see Journals, December 14, 1989, p. 1011).
[175]: The last Minister to be named to a committee was Alan MacEachern, who was named to replace Mitchell Sharp on the Striking Committee during the Second Session of the Thirtieth Parliament (1976-77) (see Journals, November 1, 1976, p. 92). In 1990, Marcel Danis, who, as Deputy Speaker, had been appointed Chairman of the Special Committee on the Review of the Parliament of Canada Act, continued as Chair of the Committee, even after his appointment to Cabinet (Journals, March 6, 1990, p. 1290).
[176]: In the early years of Confederation, the Prime Minister served on a variety of standing committees (see, for example, Journals, November 15, 1867, pp. 16, 21-2). The last Prime Minister to be named to a standing committee was William Lyon Mackenzie King, who served on the Standing Joint Committee on the Library of Parliament until 1926 (see Journals, March 16, 1926, p. 152).
[177]: Following a recommendation of the Special Committee on Reform of the House of Commons (the McGrath Committee), Parliamentary Secretaries were prohibited from being members of standing committees in the area of their responsibility (see Third Report, June 1985, p. 18, recommendation 4.5 (Journals, February 6, 1986, pp. 1644-66, in particular p. 1657)). The absence of Parliamentary Secretaries deprived the government of an official representative on committees and was considered by some to impede the committee’s work (see Debates, April 9, 1991, pp. 19194-7). The prohibition on the membership of Parliamentary Secretaries was lifted in 1991 (see Journals, April 11, 1991, pp. 2905-32, in particular p. 2923).
[178]: See, for example, Debates, November 20, 1998, Appendix, pp. 17-25. The Website address is «http:// www.parl.gc.ca/».
[179]: Standing Order 119.
[180]: Standing Order 104(2).
[181]: Standing Order 104(1).
[182]: Since the provision prohibiting the presentation of a second report was added to the Standing Orders in 1987 (see Journals, June 3, 1987, pp. 1016-28, in particular pp. 1023-4), the situation has not occurred.
[183]: See, for example, Journals, September 30, 1997, pp. 45-52.
[184]: The Forty-Ninth Report of the Committee, presented on October 5, 1990 (see Journals, pp. 2074-8), proposed new memberships for all standing and standing joint committees. No motion to concur in the Forty-Ninth Report was presented prior to prorogation on May 12, 1991, and committees continued to function up to prorogation with the membership as it existed prior to the presentation of the report.
[185]: Standing Order 113(1).
[186]: Standing Order 113(2). For further information on the Panel of Chairmen, see section below, “Chairs and Vice-Chairs”.
[187]: For example, the second reading debate on Bill C-79 (An Act to amend the Canada Elections Act) was begun on Wednesday, March 16, 1988. The report on the committee membership was presented on Thursday, March 24, 1988. See Journals, March 16, 1988, p. 2303; March 24, 1988, pp. 2412-3.
[188]: Standing Order 105.
[189]: See, for example, the Special Committee on Acid Rain (Journals, October 9, 1986, pp. 64-5).
[190]: See, for example, the Special Committee on Pension Reform (Journals, March 1, 1983, p. 5654; March 9, 1983, p. 5684).
[191]: See, for example, Journals, March 30, 1993, p. 2742; April 2, 1993, pp. 2784-5. An attempt to depart from an order to bring in a list of names, by presenting a report which provided for a mechanism by which a party whip would designate members from time to time, has been ruled out of order (see Journals, June 19, 1991, pp. 226-7; September 25, 1991, p. 393; Debates, September 25, 1991, pp. 2712-8; September 27, 1991, pp. 2823-5). In at least one instance in the past, the instruction has provided that the striking committee’s report be deemed adopted when presented to the House (Journals, March 30, 1993, p. 2742).
[192]: Standing Order 104(3) stipulates that membership on standing joint committees is proportional; there is no provision in the Standing Orders concerning proportional membership on special joint committees. Given the party representation in the two Houses at any given time, the proportional representation on a particular joint committee may be only approximate. See, for example, Journals, June 19, 1991, pp. 226-7.
[193]: Standing Order 104(3). See, for example, Journals, September 30, 1997, pp. 45-52.
[194]: The order of reference may directly name the membership (Journals, December 13, 1983, p. 37) or it may be done by reference. For example, the membership of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs was designated to represent the House on the Special Joint Committee on a Code of Conduct (Journals, March 12, 1996, p. 83).
[195]: See, for example, Journals, December 5, 1997, pp. 353-4.
[196]: See, for example, Journals, March 30, 1993, p. 2742; April 2, 1993, pp. 2784-5.
[197]: See, for example, Journals, December 13, 1983, pp. 37-8.
[198]: See, for example, Journals, April 2, 1993, pp. 2784-5.
[199]: See, for example, the Sub-committee on Private Members’ Business (Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, Minutes, September 29, 1997, Meeting No. 1).
[200]: The motion to appoint the membership usually reads: “to be named by the Chair following the usual consultations with the whips”. Committee members of each party consult as necessary with their party’s whip and then inform the Chair of the name of their member or members on the sub-committee (see, for example, Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Minutes, October 23, 1997, Meeting No. 4, and Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, Minutes, November 5, 1997, Meeting No. 5). This procedure permits subsequent changes to the membership of a sub-committee at the discretion of the Whip without the need for an order by the committee.