Recent seminars on parliamentary practise and procedure.

• Author: Stos, Dara Lithwick Will
• Position: Canadian Study of Parliament Group - Conference notes

Running out the Clock: The Strategic Use of Parliamentary Time

From the moment that a new parliament is elected and a new government is formed, the clock is ticking until the next election. While governments try to move their agenda forward and pass their legislation as quickly as possible, opposition parties often use parliamentary tools to delay the process to scrutinize, oppose, and/or secure changes to government initiatives. On January 20, 2017, the Canadian Study of Parliament Group (CSPG) held a seminar to explore the strategic use of parliamentary time by the government and the opposition and how it has evolved in recent decades, as well as proposals for reform.

Technical Briefing on Tools and Processes for Time Management in the House of Commons and the Senate

The first panel, moderated by Michel Bedard, president of the CSPG, featured veteran clerks from both houses of Parliament. Jeffrey LeBlanc, Principal Clerk at the House of Commons, provided an overview of the use of time in the Lower House. Section 28 of the Standing Orders set out the parameters of when the House shall sit, enabling a fixed calendar to help members manage their parliamentary and constituency responsibilities. The House sits for approximately 27 weeks per year, with extended breaks in the summer and at Christmas.

Time in the House of Commons is a precious commodity that can get quickly consumed. The 27 sitting weeks translate into approximately 130-135 sitting days per year. Of this total, 22 days are allotted as opposition days, four days are for the budget debate, six days are for the Throne Speech debate, and some days are for government motions. This leaves approximately 100 sitting days each year for the government to move its legislation through Parliament.

The daily order of business in the House of Commons is also rather structured (see Chapter IV of the Standing Orders). Of the 35.5 hours that the House sits per week, 23.5 hours are allotted to Government orders and routine proceedings, five hours for private members' business, five hours for members' statements and Question Period, and two hours for adjournment proceedings. Government orders are the meat of debate on government legislation. The government decides which item to call first each day and debate continues until it is concluded, interrupted, or adjourned. The government may switch items following an interruption (for example following Question Period).

As noted by Mr. LeBlanc, opposition parties can delay government business (to give time to amend or change opinion on proposed legislation) using various procedural tools. One such tool is the filibuster, which involves putting up a large number of speakers on an item and using the maximum time allotted for speeches, questions, and comment. Another tool is moving amendments, which allows members to speak more than once (on each amendment as well as to the main bill). Also, concurrence motions (for example in committee reports) can be used to delay the start of government orders, while dilatory motions, such as motions to adjourn, tend to force the taking of votes, which delays debate on other matters before the House.

Mr. LeBlanc added, however, that the government also has a number of procedural measures at its disposal to speed the passage of legislation. Time allocation allows for the setting of a specific number of days or hours to consider a stage of a bill (the minimum is one day per stage). Closure is a motion "that debate not be further adjourned," which forces a decision on any debatable matter by the end of the day. Another tool is the motion "that this question be now put," commonly known as the previous question. While this motion is debatable, it prevents any amendment to the main motion under consideration. Finally, Mr. LeBlanc noted that the government could counteract a filibuster by extending the sitting hours so that the opposition effectively talks itself out.

Once a bill is referred to a committee for study, different rules apply. There is no limit on the number or length of speeches. Meetings are called at the discretion of the Chair, and are adjourned by majority decision or consent. Committees may adopt motions to govern their procedures and set deadlines to complete studies. There is, however, a 60-sitting-day limit for a committee to study a private members' bill, though it can request a one-time 30-day extension.

Finally, Mr. LeBlanc discussed the recent report by the Procedure and House Affairs Committee on a family-friendly Parliament. He noted the report's recommendation to have votes take place after Question Period, rather than later in the day, but observed there was no consensus on the elimination of Friday sittings, changing sitting schedule or the establishment of a second parallel Chamber to facilitate debate.

Till Heyde, Deputy Principal Clerk at the Senate of Canada, remarked that time has a different meaning in the Senate, given that Senators are appointed to serve until age 75 and that the Senate strives to work by consensus. Still, Mr. Heyde noted that time management in the Senate is in flux due to recent changes in the composition of the Senate. Historically, the two main parties in the Senate coordinated business, but now that more Senators have no caucus affiliation, there is less coordination.

While the Senate Rules allow for any day between Monday and Friday to be a sitting day, in practice the Senate tends to sit only on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, for significantly fewer hours than in the House. Time in the Senate becomes more precious before the winter and summer breaks, when the government is most keen to pass legislation through both houses of Parliament.

Mr. Heyde identified three particularities with regard to the management of time in the Senate: First, unlike the House, the Senate has no fixed calendar. Sittings are set on a week-to-week basis. As well, Senate sittings can spill over into non-sitting periods (such as the summer recess). Second, Senate committees cannot sit at the same time as the Senate unless they are granted special permission. Finally, the Senate can sometimes wait for weeks or months to receive bills from the House. When the bills do come, there is pressure to pass them quickly. As a result, interventions by Senators are usually limited to those who have a particular interest in the issue. Unlike in the House, in the Senate there is no limit on time to debate a bill or motion. Because debate continues until it is done and Senators only sit for as long as they need to, dilatory tactics serve little purpose.

Changing approaches to the Use of Time by the Parliament and Opposition

In the second panel, moderated by Kelly Blidook, an associate professor of political science from Memorial University and CSPG board member, Christopher Kam, an associate professor of political science from the University of British Columbia, presented on the "Political Economy of Parliamentary Time." He posited that while there is a widely shared view that legislatures are passing less legislation due to a combination of archaic rules and opposition attempts to obstruct legislation, different factors might be at play. Indeed, he argued that governments are complicit in maintaining lower levels of legislative efficiency and productivity.

Mr. Kam demonstrated how over the past 30 years, legislative efficiency, as defined by the annual "pass rate" of government bills, has declined by about 30 per cent. He argued that this declining efficiency is not due to "vexatious and obstructive opposition." Rather, the fact that legislative sessions are shorter as well suggests that governments have not tried to offset any declining pass rate by adding sitting days. He added that while governments pass more bills in legislatures where one...