The table research branch: twenty-five years of service to the House of Commons.

• Author: O'Brien, Audrey

In the fall of 1980, the Table Research Branch was established by the late Dr. C.B. Koester, then Clerk of the House, with the support and encouragement of Speaker Jeanne Sauve. A visionary in his conception of a professional procedural cadre, Dr. Koester hoped that the creation of the Branch might lead, in time, to the production of an original, comprehensive manual of procedure and practice in the House of Commons. This hope was realized in 2000. Today, the Table Research Branch continues to provide the House with a focal point for procedural expertise, research, advice, archiving, training, professional development, and outreach. It has become the House's institutional memory, the creator and maintainer of key reference works on Canadian parliamentary procedure and a valuable resource for Members of Parliament seeking accurate procedural information and impartial advice. Technological advances have transformed its modus operandi over the years, and the Branch's original mandate has expanded to meet the increasing demands for providing training and information about how Parliament works to a wider audience including visiting officials from other legislatures.

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The first detailed proposal for establishment of a specialized procedural research office dates back to the fall of 1973 and was put forward by a respected senior manager and procedural clerk, the late Michael B. Kirby. The limitations of primary reference works was generally acknowledged by the procedural community as was the habit of consulting British authorities, despite their inadequacy in view of the marked divergence in organization and practice between the Canadian and British institutions.

Following the 1980 report of the Auditor General of Canada requested by Speaker Jeanne Sauve, the House of Commons underwent a major reorganization which included the procedural sector. Procedural activities were concentrated in three offices, one of them a new Table Research Branch.

At its inception, the Branch was placed under the direction of a Principal Clerk and its resources were limited to two researchers and a secretary. Its mandate was narrow--to provide accurate, timely information to the Speaker, to the Clerk and the Table, to House Leaders and to Members of Parliament.

The years that followed saw a gradual broadening of the Branch's mandate as resources were allocated to the task of consolidating sets of frequently overlapping, incomplete and conflicting files from...