Reform of the committee system in Quebec.

• Author: Giguere, Lucie

Lucie Giguere is a lawyer in the Department of research and parliamentary procedure at the Quebec National Assembly. This is a revised version of a presentation to the Presiding Officers' Conference in Victoria in January 1998.

The process of parliamentary reform currently under way in the Quebec National Assembly began in October 1996 when the Speaker, Jean-Pierre Charbonneau, tabled a document setting out the main objectives of the reform, together with a first set of proposals. The process to reform the committee system has now commenced. Provisional changes - in force until March 11, 1998 - were adopted in 1997, concerning committee schedules and organisation. Further proposals were tabled on December 17, 1997, concerning the appearance of witnesses. This article outlines the organisation and operation of the parliamentary committees as they existed before 1984. It also looks at the current provisions of the standing orders, and the report on committees tabled by a National Assembly task force.

Under the 1972 standing orders, in force until March 1984, the National Assembly had 27 standing committees, the names of which corresponded in general to the various government departments. Almost all the committees were sectoral, with a range of functions. Their chief characteristic was that they could act only on a mandate referred to them by the Assembly. Another notable feature was the lack of permanent leadership. This was because each meeting was chaired by a different MNA, designated by the Speaker from a "pool" of chairs approved by the Committee on the National Assembly; in addition, the role of the chair was reduced to ensuring that debate was properly conducted.

Two main points must be borne in mind; first, that the committees were subject to the direction of the majority party; and second, that they were not empowered to act independently or on their own initiative. Only the Committee on Financial Commitments enjoyed a measure of independence under the Standing Orders, since it could adopt its own operating rules, in particular concerning its agenda, the dates of its meetings, the convening of meetings and the procedure for examining financial commitments.

Select Committee Experience, 1981-82

It is important to consider the experience of the three "ad hoc" committees set up in 1981-82 on motions adopted by the National Assembly. These three committees, known as the Special Committee on the Civil Service, the Special Committee on Youth Protection and the Study Committee on Parliamentary Control of Delegated Legislation, became models for the 1984 reform.

The experiment was based on the "select committees" of British parliamentary tradition. However, the committees differed from their British counterparts in that they were not established on a permanent basis, and had no powers to act on their own initiative. For these reasons, they are perhaps more closely related to the six special committees set up by the Parliament of Canada in 1980-81. (1) The distinguishing characteristics of the special committees were freedom from government control, non-partisan operation and independence.

For the first time, Quebec committees were able to act free from government control, since their membership was constituted entirely of MNAs. In addition, they were not subject to control by party leaders or caucuses.

As a measure of their independence, each committee had its own chair and a designated secretary; one committee even elected an opposition member to act as vicechair. The role of the chairs was no longer traditional, since they could participate actively in debate, in addition to organising and directing the work of the committees.

The three committees also established a secretariat and a team of researchers and expert advisers to assist all committee members; they were allocated a limited budget. Lastly, they could summon witnesses, and one committee was the first ever to conduct sittings outside the parliament building. Most of these characteristics were retained in the 1984 reform.

The 1984 Reform: New Ground Rules

The 1984 reform was designed to enhance the role played by the National Assembly and by MNAs, by providing MNAs with the tools they needed to perform their duties more effectively. Its fundamental objectives were to establish a better balance between executive power and legislative power, modernise the operations of the assembly and its...