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Parliamentary Committees

The extent and complexity of parliamentary business, and the large number of MPs and senators, make it difficult to examine political and social issues in detail during normal sittings. For this reason, both Houses have committees.

Parliamentary committees can be made up of MPs, senators or both together in the case of joint committees. Committee members have only the powers granted by their respective Houses, and it is to the Houses that they must report on their activities. Committees offer many advantages. They are a better forum than the Chamber of the House of Commons itself for hearing the opinions, explanations and testimony of persons other than MPs and senators - for example, ministers, senior officials and experts in the field. And in committees, discussions between parliamentarians are more direct and productive. The House of Commons and the Senate can thus accomplish more with committees.

House of Commons committees

Committee of the Whole

A Committee of the Whole is the entire membership of the House of Commons sitting as a committee. Each time the House resolves itself into a Committee of the Whole to deliberate on a specific matter, a new committee is created. Once that committee has completed its business, it ceases to exist. Over the span of a session, many Committees of the Whole can be created on an ad hoc basis.

Unlike standing committees which have the authority to initiate studies of continuing concern to the House, a Committee of the Whole may only consider questions and bills which the House decides should be dealt with in that forum. At one time, the House sat frequently as a Committee of the Whole to examine the Estimates, appropriation bills and all taxation bills at the committee stage. In addition, most bills that had received a second reading were referred to a Committee of the Whole for consideration and review. Today, although the Standing Orders still provide for a Committee of the Whole to examine appropriation bills and, from time to time, by special order or unanimous consent, other bills which are referred to a Committee of the Whole for consideration, the House spends little time sitting as a Committee of the Whole. Indeed, the expeditious passage of legislation is now the predominant reason for the House resolving into a Committee of the Whole. Since the membership of a Committee of the Whole is identical to that of the House, one might expect the rules in both forums to be the same. While there are similarities, the rules in a Committee of the Whole are less formal than those which apply when the House is in session and the Speaker is in the Chair. For example, Members may speak more than once on any item.

Standing Committees

Standing committees are permanent committees established by Standing Order. They are mandated by the House to oversee a government department or departments, to review particular areas of federal policy or to exercise procedural and administrative responsibilities related to Parliament. Some committees may have both departmental and policy-area responsibilities. As well as the permanent mandates provided to standing committees by the Standing Orders, other matters are routinely referred to them by the House for examination: bills, Estimates, Order-in-Council? appointments, documents tabled in the House pursuant to statute, and specific matters which the House wishes to have studied. The House refers specific studies to committees by adopting a motion to that effect. The motion, once adopted, becomes an order of the House to a committee, known as an order of reference. In addition to the subject matter of the study, the order of reference may also contain conditions that the committee must comply with in carrying out the study or additional powers which it may require for that purpose.

Legislative Committees

Legislative committees are a distinct type of committee intended expressly to undertake the consideration of legislation. They were created by amendment to the Standing Orders in 1985. It was felt at the time that standing committees, with an expanded mandate to initiate studies without a specific reference from the House, would not also be able to readily deal with legislation. The solution proposed to this difficulty was the creation of legislative committees appointed solely to deal with bills. 90 They are appointed by the House on an ad hoc basis to deal with particular bills and cease to exist upon the presentation of their report to the House.

A legislative committee is required to be struck once second reading debate has begun on a bill which is to be referred to such a committee, or once debate has begun on a motion to appoint a legislative committee. The Procedure and House Affairs Committee must present a report containing a list of members within five sitting days of the beginning of the debate. The report is deemed adopted the moment it is presented in the House. The Speaker then appoints a Chair for the committee from the Panel of Chairmen. The legislative committee meets for the purpose of organization once the bill has been referred to it by the House. The organization meeting must take place within two days of the naming of the Chair and the adoption of the motion referring the bill to committee or appointing the committee.

Special Committees

Special committees are appointed by the House to carry out specific inquiries, studies or other tasks which the House judges of special importance. Each special committee is created by means of a motion agreed to by the House (in the case of special joint committees, by both Houses). This motion defines the committee's mandate and usually enumerates other provisions: its powers, its membership and the deadline for submitting its final report. The actual terms of the motion vary from case to case, to suit the specific task for which the committee is being established by the House. Special committees cease to exist with the presentation of their final report. Where a special committee has not completed its work by the end of a session, it ceases on prorogation, but it may be revived in a subsequent session.

Joint Committees

Joint committees are composed of members of both the House of Commons and the Senate, and may be standing or special. Standing joint committees are permanent committees established pursuant to the Standing Orders of the House of Commons and the Rules of the Senate. They deal either with administrative matters related to both Houses or with matters having application throughout the federal sphere.

Special joint committees are established by motion of both Houses to deal with matters of great public importance. The House which wishes to initiate a special joint committee first adopts a motion to establish it and includes a provision inviting the other Chamber to participate in the proposed committee's work. In addition to the subject of the study, the motion also includes any directions which the originating House may choose to give to the committee and the list of powers which are being delegated to it. The motion may also appoint the members of the committee or indicate how the membership will be established. Decisions of one House concerning the membership, mandate and powers of a proposed joint committee are communicated to the other House by message. While each House retains control of its own members on the committee, both Houses must be in agreement about the mandate and powers of the committee in order for it to be able to undertake its work. Once a request to participate in a joint committee is received, the other House, if it so desires, adopts a motion to establish such a committee and includes a provision to be returned, stating that it agrees to the request. Once the originating House has been informed of the agreement of the other Chamber, the committee can be organized. A special joint committee ceases to exist when it has presented its final report to both Houses, or at prorogation.

Senate Committees

The largest of the Senate committees are the Committees of the Whole, which, as the name suggests, consist of all senators. A Committee of the Whole meets in the Chamber of the Senate, but proceeds under slightly modified rules of debate. (For example, there is no limit on the number of speeches a member may make on a particular motion.) The presiding officer is known as the Chairman. The Senate resolves itself into a Committee of the Whole only to discuss legislation; a Committee of the Whole does not hold hearings or oversee Government agencies.

The Senate also has several standing committees, each of which has responsibility for a particular area of government (for example, finance or transport). These committees oversee the relevant government departments, and may hold hearings and collect evidence on governmental operations. Standing committees may also consider and amend bills. Most standing committees consist of between twelve and fifteen members each, and elect their own chairmen.

Some bills are considered by legislative committees, each of which consists of up to twelve members. The membership of each legislative committee roughly reflects the strength of the parties in the whole Senate. A legislative committee is appointed on an ad hoc basis to study and amend a specific bill.

The House may also create ad hoc committees to study matters other than bills. Such committees are known as special committees. Other committees include joint committees, which include both members of the House of Commons and senators; such committees may hold hearings and oversee government, but do not revise legislation.

(Source: Compendium of Procedure - House of Commons external link