13th Canadian Presiding Officers' Conference.

• Author: Robert W. Service

The 13th Canadian Presiding Officers' Conference took place in Whitehorse, Yukon on January 26 and 27, 1996, during a record-breaking cold spell. Delegates were treated to minus 48[degrees] celsius temperatures.

John Devries, Speaker of the Yukon Legislative Assembly and host of the conference, welcomed delegates to the westernmost capital in Canada and to the Yukon Legislative Assembly Chamber which served as the site for the meeting.

The first business session dealt with the election of the Speaker by secret ballot. Camille Montpetit, Clerk Assistant (Procedural Services), House of Commons, led off with a description of the current procedure governing the election of the Speaker in the House of Commons and a summary of their experience with it. Delegates from the growing number of jurisdictions which have adopted the secret ballot election method provided details on the procedure followed in their Houses and discussed the merits of this innovation.

W.H. (Binx) Remnant, Clerk of the Manitoba Legislative Assembly, made a presentation on Question Period in which he focused on the common difficulties Speakers face during this portion of the Daily Routine. In the ensuing discussion, participants exchanged views on the allocation of questions and on the means of ensuring that neither questions nor answers are too lengthy.

The Secretary-General of the National Assembly of Quebec, Pierre Duchesne, presented a paper on parliamentary privilege. He outlined the history and scope of privilege and then went on to offer some thoughts on its current-day application and limitations.

The fourth session, dealing with the activities of the Speaker as a constituency representative and as a candidate in general elections, was opened by George MacMinn, Clerk of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly. This topic, which is touched on in some form from year to year, centres upon the challenge of endeavouring to provide effective representation for a Presiding Officer's constituents without...