Proceedings of the Standing Committee on
Rules, Procedures and the Rights of Parliament
Issue 1 - First Report of the Committee
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
The Standing Committee on Rules, Procedures and the Rights of Parliament has the honour to present its
FIRST REPORT
Pursuant to rule 86(1)(d)(i), your committee has reviewed the Rules of the Senate, and recommends as follows:
1. That the existing Rules of the Senate be replaced by the revised Rules of the Senate contained in the First Appendix to this report, including the associated appendices to the Rules, effective from September 1, 2012;
2. That the Clerk of the Senate be authorized to prepare a full and comprehensive index to the revised Rules of the Senate for tabling in the Senate by the Speaker as soon as practicable, and to make other minor typographical corrections as may be required; and
3. That, for greater certainty, any sessional and other orders already adopted remain in effect for the remainder of the current session.
The Second Appendix to this report contains a concordance indicating the relationship between the existing Rules and the revised Rules.
The revised Rules of the Senate recommended to the Senate by the committee are the result of many years of work. The project began as many as 12 years ago during the Speakership of the late Senator Molgat. It continued intermittently in subsequent years, and, last session, the Rules Committee committed itself to this undertaking. It set up a subcommittee which sat many hours to systematically review drafts of proposed changes. The members of both the subcommittee and the committee worked harmoniously, in the best traditions of the Senate.
The proposed Rules would be organized more logically. There would now be 16 chapters, instead of the previous 12, plus an appendix of terminology. The chapters follow a more logical, systematic structure. There are now separate chapters for Time Allocation, Emergency Debate and Questions of Privilege. This new arrangement will make the rules easier to locate. In addition, each rule is identified with the distinct numeric tag of its chapter. For example, each rule relating to the Order of Business, Chapter 4, begins with the number 4. Thus the rule about prayers is 4-1 and the rule on the Routine Proceedings is 4-5. This new numbering system will help senators locate the Rules and subject matter more quickly.
The major objective of the revision was to clarify the Rules, while avoiding significant changes in content. In a few cases changes were required in the interest of clarity or to reflect current practice. Additional information on such changes will be circulated to senators separately, accompanied by a document identifying the original text and the revised text.
A new feature of the revised Rules is the use of constitutional and statutory references as well as lists of exceptions to any particular rule. For example, the deliberative vote of the Speaker is sanctioned by section 36 of the Constitution Act, 1867 and this is referenced immediately after the rule. The general rule with respect to speaking times, proposed rule 6-3(1), is followed by a list of rules that stipulate any exceptions.
If the revised Rules of the Senate come into force during the course of the current session, they will have no effect on the operations of any orders or motions adopted thus far in the session. This includes, for example, the sessional order respecting the sitting schedule of the Senate on Wednesdays and Thursdays, powers granted to committees, and orders of reference to committees. Any references to numbers in the existing Rules can be translated into the revised Rules by use of the concordance contained in the Second Appendix to this report.
Your committee considers that the proposed revised Rules of the Senate represent a significant improvement over the existing Rules, being more user-friendly and clearer.
Respectfully submitted,
DAVID SMITH, P.C.
Chair