Committee Activity (Quebec Assemblee nationale).

• Author: Arsenault, Doris

From May through July 1997, the work of the National Assembly's committees focused on a variety of reports tabled at the conclusion of investigations initiated by committee members. This period also saw the start of proceedings by the new Committee on Public Administration, set up on an experimental basis on April 10, 1997.

The first report was tabled by the Committee on Agriculture, Fisheries and Food on May 8. The Committee had been studying the government's proposed guidelines on control of odours, noise and dust in agricultural areas. In light of the briefs and evidence presented at the public hearings in April, the Committee members unanimously adopted a report setting out those provisions they thought most likely to encourage good neighbourly relations between farmers and non-farmers living in agricultural areas. The provisions put forward by the Committee are aimed basically at preserving agricultural activities in rural and exurban areas while minimizing insofar as possible the inherent inconveniences.

On June 10, the Committee tabled a second report, in which it recommended an increase in the ceiling on loans made to farmers by the Societe de financement agricole.

The Committee on Culture wrapped up the mandate entrustedto it in February 1995 of determining the issues entailed in developing Quebec's information highway. On May 27 it tabled an imposing report entitled Inforoute, culture et democratie: Enjeux pour le Quebec. The report contains over 50 recommendations, and in particular it asserts that while the information highway has potholes and bumps, it also offers possibilities and opportunities that the government must definitely seize.

Lastly, on June 17, the Committee on the Economy and Labour published its final report on its review of Hydro-Quebec, the province's biggest Crown corporation. With the help of a panel of experts, the Committee produced a report that is the result of lengthy consideration and a number of days hearing from senior management at the corporation. The report contains 21 recommendations on the four main areas scrutinized: restructuring of electricity markets, energy efficiency, new sources of renewable energy, and research and development.

Apart from these significant reports, the early summer was also notable for the launching of the Committee of Public Administration. Its mandate, to follow up on the annual report of the province's Auditor General, is similar to those of the public accounts...