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In Commitee from the House of Commons
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CPAC - Cable Public Affairs Channel presents the most complete, unedited and accessible coverage of proceedings of federal parliamentary committees through our program "In Committee from the House of Commons."
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About House of Commons Committees
While Question Period often attracts the most attention on Parliament Hill, a great deal of work actually occurs in committee rooms. MPs conduct studies, review legislation, produce reports, and hear from ministers, government officials, and outside experts on issues of national importance.
The current standing committees are: - Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development
- Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics
- Agriculture and Agri-Food
- Canadian Heritage
- Citizenship and Immigration
- Environment and Sustainable Development
- Finance
- Fisheries and Oceans
- Foreign Affairs and International Development
- Government Operations and Estimates
- Health
- Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities
- Industry, Science and Technology
- International Trade
- Justice and Human Rights
- Liaison
- National Defence
- Natural Resources
- Official Languages
- Procedure and House Affairs
- Public Accounts
- Public Safety and National Security
- Special Committee on the Canadian Mission in Afghanistan
- Status of Women
- Transportation, Infrastructure and Communities
- Veterans Affairs
ROLES
The following items are referred to standing committees of the House of Commons: - Bills (before or after second reading)
- Reports and documents tabled in the House of Commons
- Financial estimates
- Government appointments
Committees also review the annual reports of federal departments, agencies, and Crown corporations under their watch.
PROCEDURE - Standing committees are established by Standing Orders in the House of Commons.
- Committee membership reflects party standings. Each party whip submits names of proposed members to be approved by the House of Commons.
- The chair and vice-chair are elected once the committee convenes. Chairs are government MPs, with five exceptions for opposition members: Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics; Government Operations and Estimates; Public Accounts; Status of Women; Standing Joint Committee for the Scrutiny of Regulations.
- The Speaker of the House and their deputies, cabinet ministers, and party leaders do not typically sit on committees. Parliamentary secretaries normally join committees relating to their responsibilities.
- Outside MPs can attend meetings and interact with witnesses, but cannot vote or introduce motions.
- Inside the committee room, government members sit to the chair’s right, with their opposition colleagues on the left.
- Witnesses are either contacted by the committee or respond to a call for experts. They can be sworn in under oath, but this rarely occurs in either the House of Commons or Senate. If a witness refuses to appear before a committee, a summons may be issued.
- Committee meetings are protected by the same parliamentary privilege that exists inside the House of Commons, even for proceedings held outside Ottawa. But a witness that lies or refuses to answer a question can be held in contempt of Parliament.
- Committee meetings are never held during question period, and are normally suspended during votes in the House of Commons.
HISTORY - Parliamentary committees date back to 14th-century England. They were entrenched by the 1500s as a mode of amending bills under consideration by the House of Commons. The forerunner to the modern system of standing committees was in place by the following century.
- Colonial legislatures in Upper and Lower Canada introduced standing committees in the 1830s.
- There were 10 standing committees in the House of Commons after Confederation in 1867. The number has since jumped to 25.
- Broadcasting of committee meetings began in 1991. Similar to other parliamentary proceedings, only the person recognized by the chair is shown on-camera. No reaction shots are permitted.
SOURCES: House of Commons Committees Practical Guide, House of Commons Procedure and Practice
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