Parliament’s Committees: What Are They and Why Should I Care?

by Apathy is Boring Volunteer Allison — September 5, 2008

The gist of it

There are 308 seats in the House of Commons and 105 seats in the Senate; that’s a lot of people to try to have a discussion together. So when parliament needs to look at the intricate details of something, be it legislation (laws) or an issue affecting the country, Members of Parliament (MPs) and Senators form smaller working groups called committees.

Not every committee is special

Standing committees are permanent. Each standing committee is responsible for a different area of public policy such as health, human rights, foreign affairs or finance.

Special committees are created to look into a specific issue and cease to exist once they have finished studying that particular topic. Sometimes special committees look at laws that are considered to be high priority. Special committees can also examine controversial subjects like the legalization of marijuana and euthanasia. Recently, the House of Commons created a special committee to report on the Canadian mission in Afghanistan.

Joint committees have members from both the House of Commons and the Senate. These committees study areas of shared responsibility like the Library of Parliament and the rules and regulations of parliament.

So . . . Why should I care?

Some of the most interesting work in parliament happens in committees.

Witnesses:
How do committees learn about the issues affecting Canadians? They bring in the experts. Committees get information by bringing in a wide variety of witnesses. These witnesses share their experience and opinions with the committee. Depending on what they are looking for, committees will hear from everyone from department officials to average citizens to movie stars like Sarah Polley who recently testified before a senate committee on the topic of censorship in the Canadian film industry.

Reports:
What do committees do with the all that information collected from witnesses? They publish reports on their findings. Committee reports often highlight current problems in Canada and offer recommendations.
You can read the reports online at www.parl.gc.ca or get your hands on a free hard copy by contacting the clerks of the committee.

Amendments:
So what happens when committees discover something is wrong? Often, when committees are closely examining laws, they will find problems that weren’t anticipated. That’s the point of committees studying legislation: to find these problems before the laws are passed. Committees can propose changes called amendments in order to fix flaws in laws. If the problem is serious, they can also scrap the whole thing.

How can I find out what’s going on?

Want to find out what is happening in committees now?
Check out their online meeting schedules:

House of Commons
Senate

What can I do to get involved?

Committees care about what you have to say.
You can watch committee meetings in person, on the web or on CPAC.
If you want to have your opinion heard, you can write to committee members, contact the clerk of the committee and participate in “town hall” meetings.

For more information on committees:
http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/process/senate/factsheets/committees-e.htm
http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/process/house/CommitteesPracticalGuide/PDF/CmtesPG2007_all-e.pdf
http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/library/idb/forsey/what_goes_on_05-e.asp
http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/library/idb/forsey/what_goes_on_06-e.asp