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Organization Meeting |
Before a committee can begin its work, the members of the committee must elect a Chair and Vice-Chairs. This occurs at the first meeting of the committee which is referred to as the “organization meeting”. The election of the Chair is presided over by the clerk of the committee. Should there be more than one nomination for Chair or Vice-Chair, the vote is held by secret ballot.
Since the committee is not properly constituted until a Chair is elected, the clerk who is presiding over the election may not entertain any points of order or any motion other than a motion of nomination to elect a Chair.
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Routine Motions |
Although the only item of business scheduled for an organization meeting is the election of the Chair, it has become common practice for committees to proceed immediately with the election of the Vice-Chairs and then to the consideration of routine motions. Committees often adopt routine motions to establish practices for members to follow throughout a Session of Parliament. This is necessary as committees do not strictly follow all of the rules of the House on all procedures.
These routine motions include notice requirements for new business, the partitioning of time for the questioning of witnesses, the reimbursement of witness travel expenses, and other items that will govern how the committee will conduct its meetings. There is no official list of routine motions and each committee is free to organize itself however it sees fit, as long as it does not step outside the powers granted to it by the House.
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Notice for a Meeting |
The members are alerted of the Chair’s intention to convene a meeting by means of a notice. A notice is sent via e-mail to every member of the committee as well as the member’s staff. The notice is also published on the Internet on the respective committee’s Web site. The notice outlines the purpose, location and time of the meeting, as well as the witnesses (if any) and the informal agenda.
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Committee Rooms |
Meetings are usually held in one of the designated committee rooms that are located throughout the parliamentary buildings. These rooms are specially outfitted with electronic equipment for the recording and interpretation of the proceedings.
Here is an example of a typical committee room setup:
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Meetings |
The Chair calls a meeting to order once quorum (a majority of the membership) is present. Committees are also empowered to sit with a reduced quorum solely for the purpose of hearing witnesses, but they are not permitted to vote or adopt motions during meetings with a reduced quorum.
Most meetings take place during predetermined time slots, but never during Question Period. Standing Order 115(5) requires meetings to be suspended when the bells are sounded to call in the Members to a recorded division, unless there is unanimous consent of the Members to continue. A committee usually begins its meeting by taking up whatever study or activity it has previously agreed to do. If there are witnesses, they will make introductory remarks which are then followed by rounds of questioning from the members. All members of the committee, as well as any witnesses, may speak in the official language of their choice as simultaneous interpretation is available. Most meetings are held in public, however, a committee may sit in camera (i.e., in private) and usually does so when studying draft reports or discussing its future business.
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Broadcast of committee proceedings |
All committee meetings, except those held in camera, are broadcast live over the Internet in both official languages (ParlVU). (Note: Most live broadcasts are audio only; where a committee has chosen to televise, the video feed is also available.) Although there may only be a dozen people in a committee room, there may be hundreds or even thousands of people listening online. Televised meetings are also broadcast on the Cable Public Affairs Channel (CPAC) and on the internal House of Commons television channels.
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Unrevised Transcript (“Blues”) and Evidence |
Shortly after a meeting has been held, the unofficial verbatim transcripts (commonly known as the “blues”) are available for committee members and staff. These unedited transcripts are prepared in the language that was spoken by the participants at the meeting. The official transcripts (translated and edited) are published as soon as possible after the meeting as the Evidence on the committee Web site, usually within 10 calendar days.
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Minutes of Proceedings |
The Minutes of Proceedings are a summary of the decisions of the committee for each meeting. They also contain the time and location of the meeting, whether the meeting was held in public or in camera, which Members were present, who presided, the names of witnesses and their affiliated organizations (if any), the names of all committee staff members present, and the Orders of Reference that were taken up. The committee clerk prepares the Minutes and publishes them online as soon as possible after a meeting.
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Public Consultations |
Committees typically ask the general public to aid them in their studies by submitting briefs. A committee may also wish to conduct an online consultation directly with the public.
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