The House of Commons standing committee on procedure and House affairs has at last prepared the membership rosters for the House's standing committees, which are responsible for studying legislation and issues, and providing advice to the House, throughout the year. The rosters were presented on Friday, January 29, which was the deadline under the rules of the House.
There are a few notable things about committees during the new parliamentary session.
The Bloc and Greens are excluded from committees
Since neither the Bloc Québécois nor the Green Party have enough seats to reach "official party status" (i.e., 12 seats), those parties are not represented on House committees. The Bloc Québécois had previously thrown a fit over their party status in December, repeatedly denying the unanimous consent that the House needed to expedite the creation of a committee to consult on the federal budget, and delaying the creation of a joint committee to discuss physician-assisted dying.
The Bloc and the Greens nevertheless have the right to attend committee meetings and to speak to issues under consideration, but as they have no permanent members, they do not have a vote on any of the key decisions to be taken at those meetings.
Committees are smaller
During the previous Parliament, when the Conservative Party was in government, the rules of the House were changed to reduce the number of seats on each committee. There are now 10 members of each committee, down two from the 12-member committees as they existed until the end of the last Parliament's first session. Since we have seen this smaller committee model in action for a full session already, few surprises should be expected in this respect.
"Because it's 2015" may not apply to committees
While the Government committed to and delivered a gender-balanced cabinet, and while the Government has mandated the independent advisory board for Senate appointments to pursue a gender-balanced Upper House, this does not appear to have been as much of a priority for the three official party whips who prepared the proposed membership rosters.
Where are the parliamentary secretaries?
The Liberals have followed through on their promise not to assign parliamentary secretaries as permanent members of House committees. This has been done in order to reduce the influence of the cabinet over the Liberal members of each committee. While the promise has technically been kept, parliamentary secretaries have continued to attend committee members as observers (which has prompted New Democratic Party filibusters at the procedure and House affairs committee).
The opposition parties did not follow the Liberals' lead on this initiative, generally assigning senior party critics as permanent members of committees with corresponding subject matters. The unfortunate result, here, is that the opposition parties are going to be perpetuating the hyper-partisan nature of the House, even in the face of a Government that is attempting to put power back in the hands of individual members. An unfortunate reality, but not entirely surprising.
Secret ballot election of committee chairs
The Liberals have followed through on their election commitment to have standing committee chairs elected, by secret ballot, by committee members themselves (at least so far). What is unclear at this point, however, is whether this means that the Liberal majority on each committee means that we are going to see only Liberal chairs, or whether some committees are going to have opposition chairs (traditionally the case with the public accounts and ethics committees).
Source: Meet the Commons committees of the 42nd Parliament
There are a few notable things about committees during the new parliamentary session.
The Bloc and Greens are excluded from committees
Since neither the Bloc Québécois nor the Green Party have enough seats to reach "official party status" (i.e., 12 seats), those parties are not represented on House committees. The Bloc Québécois had previously thrown a fit over their party status in December, repeatedly denying the unanimous consent that the House needed to expedite the creation of a committee to consult on the federal budget, and delaying the creation of a joint committee to discuss physician-assisted dying.
The Bloc and the Greens nevertheless have the right to attend committee meetings and to speak to issues under consideration, but as they have no permanent members, they do not have a vote on any of the key decisions to be taken at those meetings.
Committees are smaller
During the previous Parliament, when the Conservative Party was in government, the rules of the House were changed to reduce the number of seats on each committee. There are now 10 members of each committee, down two from the 12-member committees as they existed until the end of the last Parliament's first session. Since we have seen this smaller committee model in action for a full session already, few surprises should be expected in this respect.
"Because it's 2015" may not apply to committees
While the Government committed to and delivered a gender-balanced cabinet, and while the Government has mandated the independent advisory board for Senate appointments to pursue a gender-balanced Upper House, this does not appear to have been as much of a priority for the three official party whips who prepared the proposed membership rosters.
Where are the parliamentary secretaries?
The Liberals have followed through on their promise not to assign parliamentary secretaries as permanent members of House committees. This has been done in order to reduce the influence of the cabinet over the Liberal members of each committee. While the promise has technically been kept, parliamentary secretaries have continued to attend committee members as observers (which has prompted New Democratic Party filibusters at the procedure and House affairs committee).
The opposition parties did not follow the Liberals' lead on this initiative, generally assigning senior party critics as permanent members of committees with corresponding subject matters. The unfortunate result, here, is that the opposition parties are going to be perpetuating the hyper-partisan nature of the House, even in the face of a Government that is attempting to put power back in the hands of individual members. An unfortunate reality, but not entirely surprising.
Secret ballot election of committee chairs
The Liberals have followed through on their election commitment to have standing committee chairs elected, by secret ballot, by committee members themselves (at least so far). What is unclear at this point, however, is whether this means that the Liberal majority on each committee means that we are going to see only Liberal chairs, or whether some committees are going to have opposition chairs (traditionally the case with the public accounts and ethics committees).
Source: Meet the Commons committees of the 42nd Parliament