Special Debates / Take-note Debates

Chair’s statement: guidelines for the conduct of take-note debates

April 24, 2001

Debates, p. 3089

On April 24, 2001, pursuant to an Order made on Monday, April 23, 2001,^[1] the House resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole to consider a motion standing on the Order paper in the name of Don Boudria (Leader of the Government in the House of Commons) on the state of Canada’s resource industries (Government Business No. 5).^[2] Since this was the first time the House had undertaken a take-note debate under the rules governing Committees of the Whole, the Chair of Committees of the Whole (Bob Kilger) opened the debate with brief remarks as to how it would be conducted.

Statement of the Chair

The Chairman: Order, please. The House in Committee of the Whole on Government Business No. 5.

Before I call the debate and because we are endeavouring into uncharted waters, I will make a few opening remarks as to how this debate will be conducted.

While there have been take-note debates in the House on many previous occasions, tonight we are dealing with a slightly different situation.

The motion under which we are meeting provides that the debate will be conducted under our Standing Orders for Committees of the Whole, namely, that no Member shall speak for more than 20 minutes with no period of questions and comments. Second, that Members may speak more than once. Third, that Members need not to be in their own seat to be recognized. That is why we see our hon. friend from Brandon–Souris so close to the Chair this evening.

That being said, I understand this format has been chosen to create a more informal atmosphere that will promote genuine dialogue among Members on this issue. In that sense I believe we are embarking on something of an experiment.

As your Chair, I must be guided by the rules of the Committee of the Whole. However, if Members, and only if Members agree, I would be prepared to exercise discretion and flexibility in the application of these rules. That way I hope all participants can make good use of their time and take full advantage of the availability and accessibility of Ministers.

With the cooperation of all Members, I hope we may all learn some valuable lessons tonight about how this type of debate can best be conducted, so as to be a productive forum for exploring issues of public policy.

I look forward to your cooperation. Myself and other occupants during the debate will demonstrate the flexibility that hopefully will allow us to create a forum of discussion on public policy that will be attractive to Members on both sides of the House and if not more important to all Canadians.

On June 1, 2001, the Special Committee on the Modernization and Improvement of the Procedures of the House presented its Report recommending, in part, the adoption of a Standing Order governing take-note debates.^[3] The Report also recommended that the new Standing Order provide for take-note debates to be held in a Committee of the Whole format. The new Standing Order (53.1), which encompassed many of the provisions usually adopted by Special Order prior to a take-note debate, such as limits on the length of speeches and of the debate, and allowing the Speaker to preside over the Committee, came into effect with the adoption by the House of the Report of the Special Committee on October 4, 2001.^[4]