Committees cannot take up the
responsibilities assigned to them until their membership has been named. At the
commencement of the first session of a
Parliament, [168]
a
motion is typically moved by the Government House
Leader [169]
to
appoint the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs to act as a
striking
committee, [170]
that
is, to prepare a list of the members to serve on the standing committees of the
House (or, in the case of standing joint committees, the House members on those
committees). The Committee is also responsible for naming members to legislative
committees and for dealing with changes to the membership of standing
committees. It may also be called upon to report a proposed membership for a
special committee. The membership of the Standing Committee on Procedural and
House Affairs continues from session to session throughout the life of a
Parliament. The Committee has chosen to delegate to the whips of the recognized
parties the authority to strike the membership of
committees. [171]
Committee membership generally reflects the
proportions of the various recognized parties in the House. Where the governing
party has a majority in the House, it will also have a majority on every House
committee. Independent members have not ordinarily been appointed to
committees. [172]
The membership of committees must be
composed of Members of the House of Commons. They may serve on more than one
committee. While no rule prevents any Member from being named to a committee,
current practice normally excludes certain Members who have other parliamentary
functions: the
Speaker [173]
and
other Chair
occupants, [174]
Ministers [175]
(including the Prime
Minister [176] )
and
the leaders of recognized parties. Parliamentary Secretaries are usually named
to the standing committees having a mandate in their area of
responsibility. [177]
Lists of the members of standing, legislative and special committees, of
sub-committees and of the Liaison Committee are appended weekly to the
Debates and are available on the Parliamentary
Website. [178]
Only members of a committee (or officially
designated substitutes) may move motions, vote and be counted as part of the
quorum. Other members of the House may attend committee meetings, question
witnesses and participate in the committee’s public proceedings, unless
the House or the committee orders otherwise. They may not, however, move
motions, vote or be part of a
quorum. [179]
The
attendance of other Members at in camera meetings is a matter for the
committee to decide; however, they usually withdraw when the committee
deliberates on a report to the House.
Standing Committees
The Standing Orders provide for standing
committees to be composed of 16 to 18
members. [180]
Within
10 sitting days of its appointment at the beginning of a Parliament, the
Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs is required to report to the
House the list of standing committee
members. [181]
The
list of committee members must be revised annually within the first 10 sitting
days following the summer adjournment as provided for in the parliamentary
calendar, and again at the beginning of each new session, provided that only one
such report is presented by the Committee between the third Monday in September
and December 31. [182]
The membership of standing committees comes
into effect when the Procedure and House Affairs Committee’s report is
concurred in by the
House. [183]
Until
such a report is concurred in, the committee membership previously approved by
the House, if any, remains in
force. [184]
Legislative Committees
The Procedure and House Affairs Committee
is also responsible for naming members to legislative committees, which are
struck on an ad hoc basis. Within five sitting days of the commencement
of debate on a motion to establish a legislative committee or to refer a bill to
one, the Procedure and House Affairs Committee must meet to establish a
membership list of not more than 15 members to serve as the legislative
committee. [185]
The
membership list does not include the Chair of the committee, who is named
separately by the Speaker from the Panel of
Chairmen. [186]
The
report, which must be presented in the House no later than the following
Thursday, [187]
is
deemed adopted upon presentation.
Special Committees
The Standing Orders provide that special
committees shall have no more than 15
members. [188]
The
membership of special committees may be established in several ways: the order
of reference establishing such a committee may include its
members; [189]
the
membership may be named separately by order of the
House; [190]
or the
order of reference establishing the special committee may contain an instruction
to a striking committee to prepare and bring in a list of names of
members. [191]
The
report by a striking committee must be concurred in by the
House.
Joint Committees
Joint committees, both standing and
special, have memberships proportional to the relative size of both
Houses. [192]
House
membership on joint committees is established following the procedure for the
corresponding type of House committee (i.e., standing or special). House
membership on standing joint committees is determined by the concurrence in a
report from the Procedure and House Affairs
Committee. [193]
House
membership on special joint committees may be included in the order of reference
which establishes the committee; [194]
or it may be
named later either by motion of the
House [195]
or by
concurrence in a report from the Procedure and House Affairs
Committee. [196]
In
every case, the House must inform the Senate of the members who will represent
it by way of a message. This may be accomplished either by communicating the
original order of reference (if it contains the membership
list) [197]
or by a
separate message. [198]
Sub-committees
The membership of a sub-committee is
usually determined by the main committee. Members of sub-committees may be named
directly as part of the order of reference passed by the main
committee [199]
or by
the Chair of the main committee following consultations with the party
whips. [200]
They can
be selected either from the regular members of the committee or from the list of
associate members established by the Procedure and House Affairs
Committee. [201]
The
House has, on occasion, named the members of a sub-committee
directly. [202]
The
main committee may alter the composition of a sub-committee it has named, but
not that of one whose membership was named by the
House. [203]
Where committees have agreed to establish
sub-committees on agenda and procedure (steering committees), their memberships
have varied considerably to suit the needs of individual committees. This
sub-committee typically consists of the Chair of the committee, the Vice-Chairs,
representatives of each of the other recognized parties and, on committees
having a departmental responsibility, the Parliamentary
Secretary. [204]
The membership of a sub-committee need not
necessarily reflect the proportions of party membership either on the main
committee or in the House itself. For ex-ample, the membership of the
Sub-committee on Private Member’s Business has consisted of a Chair from
the government party and a single representative from each recognized
party. [205]