House of Commons Procedure and Practice.

• Author: Levy, Gary
• Position: Parliamentary Book Shelf - Book review

House of Commons Procedure and Practice, 2nd Edition, by Audrey O'Brien and Marc Bosc, House of Commons, Ottawa and Editions Yvon Blais, Montreal

It is nearly ten years since publication of the first edition of House of Commons Procedure and Practice by the former Clerk of the House of Commons, Robert Marleau and the Deputy Clerk, Camille Montpetit. And what a decade it has been.

We have witnessed three minority parliaments, governments both Liberal and Conservative playing fast and loose with the confidence convention, committees embarking on investigations that push the bounds of parliamentary privilege to its very limit. There has been fallout from the Accountability Act, the fixed date election legislation and some rather novel interpretations of prorogation all of which have caused considerable head scratching among parliamentary experts, Speakers and sometimes the courts. Journalists and ordinary citizens are starting to suggest Canada may soon find itself with one of the most dysfunctional parliamentary systems among Westminster-type Parliaments.

This book is not intended to highlight problems, or to pose solutions, to our parliamentary conundrums. But it does provide the basic facts that can be used by those who think we have serious problems as well as those who adhere to the "Candide" school of Canadian government--that whatever happens it is all for the best in this the best of all possible parliamentary democracies.

The new volume is nearly a third longer, 1471 pages compared to about 1100 in the previous edition. There are 6,952 footnotes in the new edition. More than 100 individuals worked on the project over a three year period but authorship belongs to the Clerk of the House of Commons, Audrey O'Brien and the Deputy Clerk Marc Bosc. The book will help them provide advice to the members and, hopefully, will encourage members to become more familiar with the...