Guidelines for
Preparing Government Responses to Parliamentary Committee Reports
Introduction
Government responses to parliamentary committee reports are a
key way for the Government to be held accountable to Parliament. Such responses
allow the Government to address issues raised by parliamentary committees and to
outline its position on policy and program issues. Government responses
therefore serve an important function in our parliamentary system, and require
attention by Ministers and departmental officials.
Following recommendations made by the Lefebvre Special
Committee in 1982, the Standing Orders of the House of Commons were amended to
permit standing and special committees to request that the Government table a
comprehensive response to their reports. House of Commons Standing Order 109
reads:
Within 150 days of the presentation of a report from a
standing or special committee, the government shall, upon request of the
committee, table a comprehensive response thereto.
On June 3, 2003 the Senate adopted the Seventh Report of the Standing
Committee on Rules, Procedures and the Rights of Parliament concerning
Government responses to Senate committee reports within 150 calendar days. The
following has been added to rule 131 of the Rules of the Senate:
(2) The Senate may request that the Government provide a complete and
detailed response to a report of a select Committee, which has been adopted
by the Senate if either the report or the motion adopting the report
contains such a request, or if a motion to that effect is adopted subsequent
to the adoption of a report.
(3) Upon adoption of a report or motion pursuant to subsection (2), the
Clerk shall immediately communicate the request, and send a copy of the
report, to the Government Leader [ie. the Leader of the Government in the
Senate] and to each Minister of the Crown expressly identified in the report
or in the motion as a Minister responsible for responding to the report, and
the Government Leader shall, within one hundred and fifty calendar days
after the adoption of the report or motion, either table the Government's
response or give an explanation for not doing so in the Senate.
(4) Where the Senate adopts a report or a motion pursuant to subsection
(2), the report of the select committee and the response of the Government
or the explanation of the Government Leader for the absence of a response,
or the absence of such response or explanation, are deemed to be referred to
the select committee one hundred and fifty calendar days after the adoption
of the report.
This Senate rule change provides a formal basis for the
Senate to request Government responses to Senate committee reports.
This document reviews the procedures for departmental
officials in preparing a comprehensive Government response to a committee
report. It also outlines the key milestones leading to the tabling of the
Government response in the Senate or the House of Commons within 150 days.
Definition of Comprehensive Government Response
The Standing Orders of the House of Commons require that the
Government table a comprehensive response, although the precise nature of the
response is not specified. The Speaker of the House has consistently declined to
rule on the issue of the comprehensiveness of responses and has ruled that
"the nature of the response must be left to the discretion of the
Government." That said, it is clearly in the interest of the Government,
Parliament and the public for responses to address fully the issues raised in
committee reports.
The requirements in the Senate are similar, in that the
Government should provide a comprehensive response to a committee report,
although, as in the House of Commons, the nature of such a response is left to
the discretion of the Government.
There are several approaches for responding to a standing
committee report, although the first, straightforward approach is most
frequently followed.
1. The Government may respond substantively to
each recommendation of a parliamentary committee report, or to
groups of related committee recommendations.
2. The Government may make a policy announcement
on the same subject as a parliamentary committee report. This could
include legislative or program initiatives. The letter to the committee
chair could indicate that this announcement, without responding to
individual committee recommendations, constitutes a "global"
response to the committee's report. The letter may also note the main
points of the committee report and the general way the policy
announcement addresses these points.
3. Where a parliamentary committee is expected to
make further recommendations on the same topic in the near future, the
Government may table an interim response which responds to the
issues raised by the Committee.
Departmental Responsibility for Preparation of Response
Departmental officials are responsible for working with
Ministers and Ministers’ offices and the Privy Council Office (PCO) to respond
to committee reports. This includes monitoring parliamentary committee
proceedings for reports requesting a Government response that involves their
department.
After a request for a Government response is tabled in the
House, or the Senate adopts a report or separate motion requesting a Government
response, PCO will follow up with a letter to the Deputy Minister of the
relevant department (or departments). In some cases, two or more departments may
be asked to prepare a joint response, although one Minister will usually be
identified to co-ordinate and table the Government’s response. An officer in a
PCO Secretariat will be designated as a point of contact for the department. The
officer will work with the department to schedule the response for timely
discussion by the appropriate Cabinet Committee, and may provide advice on the
nature and content of the response.
The Legislation and House Planning/Counsel Secretariat in PCO
monitors parliamentary committee reports that request a comprehensive Government
response, and is available to answer questions about the procedure for preparing
and tabling a Government response. Ministers’ offices may also seek advice
from the Offices of the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons or the
Leader of the Government in the Senate.
Memorandum to Cabinet
Proposals for a comprehensive Government response are
prepared under cover of a Memorandum to Cabinet (MC) for consideration by the
appropriate Cabinet Committee. The MC should outline for Ministers the main
features of the proposed response, and clearly state the degree to which the
response addresses the parliamentary committee's recommendations including a
corresponding rationale.
The proposed Government response is annexed to the MC, and as
such, remains a Cabinet confidence until the response has been tabled. A
letter forwarding a copy of the response to the chair of the parliamentary
committee, to be signed by the appropriate Minister(s), should also be annexed
to the MC.
The MC should be ready for Cabinet Committee consideration at
least three weeks before the date required for tabling, in order to permit time
for approval by Cabinet, and tabling. The PCO Cabinet Papers Unit requires that
MCs be forwarded to the Unit no later than 5 days prior to consideration by
Cabinet (i.e., four weeks before the 150 day deadline). Departments should take
into consideration the intermittent scheduling of Cabinet Committee meetings
during parliamentary adjournments, as this may require that the response be
scheduled several weeks in advance of the time lines which are suggested on the
following page. Further, if the proposed response is likely to be controversial,
consideration should be given to scheduling the item for earlier discussion. The
proposed Government response, as ratified by Cabinet, constitutes the document
that the Minister should table in the House of Commons or that the Minister in
the Senate, the Government Senate Leader, should table in the Senate.
Planning to Meet the Deadline for a Comprehensive Response
In the House of Commons, the start of the 150 calendar day
period for preparing the response begins the day after the committee report is
tabled in the House. The chair of the committee may mention the request in the
House when the committee's report is tabled. As well as being recorded in the
Journals of the House of Commons for that day, the committee’s report is
available on the parliamentary internet site, under Committee Business. The
deadline for tabling a response to a report of a House of Commons committee is
not affected by adjournment or prorogation of Parliament. However, dissolution
of Parliament immediately puts an end to the requirement to respond to committee
reports.
The consequences for the Government of missing the deadline
are serious (i.e., this constitutes contempt for the orders of a House of
Parliament). In a ruling dated April 19, 1993, the Speaker of the
House of Commons found a prima facie breach of privilege because an Order
in Council and a Government response were not tabled in the House when they
should have been.
In the Senate, the 150 calendar days begins the day the
Senate adopts the report or the motion requesting a Government response, rather
than the day the report is tabled in the Senate. While the deadline for tabling
the response is not affected by adjournment, a prorogation or a dissolution of
Parliament immediately puts an end to the request to respond to Senate committee
reports. However, following a prorogation, the Senate can reinstate its request
for a government response.
Every attempt should be made to table the response in the
Senate by the 150 day deadline. The consequences for the Government for missing
the deadline are outlined in rule 131 of the Rules of the Senate. Rule
131 states that the Leader of the Government in the Senate "shall, within
150 calendar days after the adoption of the report or motion either table the
Government’s response or give an explanation for not doing so in the
Senate." This explanation is then referred to the committee that authored
the report. In such cases, departments will prepare the necessary explanation
and provide support as required for the Leader of the Government in the Senate.
Should the Leader of the Government in the Senate fail to provide an
explanation, the entire matter is, according to rule 131, deemed to have been
referred to the respective committee. One possible outcome of this automatic
referral would be a recommendation to the Senate to find the Minister in
question in contempt.
The key milestones for preparing a Government response, and
suggested time lines are as follows.
Milestone |
Timing
(calendar days after tabling of committee report)
|
Development Stage |
1 - 80 days |
Departmental and Ministerial Approval of MC and Response
|
81-110 days |
MC to PCO |
no later than 125 days |
Cabinet Committee Consideration |
no later than 130 days |
Cabinet Consideration |
130-150 days |
Government Response Tabled in the Senate or the House of
Commons |
no later than 150 days |
Procedure for Tabling a Comprehensive Government Response in the House of
Commons
Once the Government's comprehensive response is approved by
Cabinet, the response is tabled in the House of Commons. When the House is
sitting, there are two possible procedures for tabling:
1. The response can be directly tabled in the
House. Two copies of the response, in each official language, are
tabled by the appropriate Minister, or Parliamentary Secretary, during
Routine Proceedings in the House of Commons, pursuant to Standing Order
32(2).
2. An alternate way is to deposit the response
directly with the Clerk of the House, under cover of a letter signed
by the Minister, pursuant to Standing Order 32(1) without tabling
documents during Routine Proceedings. This process sometimes is referred
to as "back door" tabling.
If the House is not sitting on the due date, the
procedure for tabling is as follows.
-
Two copies of the Government's comprehensive
response in both official languages may be deposited directly with
the Clerk of the House of Commons on the Wednesday following the
fifteenth day of the month. Every attempt should be made to deposit
the response by the 150 day deadline, as the House may be recalled at
any time, and if the response is with the Clerk, the document will be
deemed to have been tabled "back door" on the day the House
resumes sitting. Where the House stands adjourned and the document is
deposited on the Wednesday following the fifteenth day of the month, it
will be recorded in the Journals of the House of Commons on the
day after the specified Wednesday.
-
When Parliament is not in session, out of
respect for the House, the Minister should keep the response
confidential until it is received in the Clerk's office. Once deposited
with the Clerk, the response may be made public, but copies should be
provided under cover of a letter from the Minister to the opposition
critics informing them the response has been deposited but not yet
recorded in the Journals of the House of Commons, and that it is
being made public immediately.
If Parliament is prorogued on the due date, the
response must be tabled the first day of the new session of Parliament.
Procedure for Tabling a Comprehensive Government Response in
the Senate
Once the Government's comprehensive response is approved by
Cabinet, the response is tabled in the Senate. When the Senate is sitting
there are two possible procedures for tabling:
1. The response can be directly tabled in the Senate.
Two copies of the response, in each official language, are tabled by the
Leader or the Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate during the
daily Routine of Business under the Tabling of Documents.
An alternate way is to deposit the response
directly with the Clerk of the Senate, under cover of a letter
signed by the Leader of the Government in the Senate, pursuant to rule
28(1) without tabling documents during Routine Proceedings.
If the Senate is not sitting on the due date, the
procedure for tabling is as follows:
-
When Parliament is not sitting, out of respect
for the Senate, the Minister should keep the response confidential until
it is received in the Clerk's office. Once deposited with the Clerk, the
response may be made public, but copies should be provided under cover
of a letter from the Minister to the opposition critics informing them
the response has been deposited but not yet recorded in the Journals
of the Senate, and that it is being made public immediately.
Distributing the Response
Notwithstanding the method chosen for tabling the Government’s
response:
-
once the Government’s response is tabled, officials
should ensure equal and timely access to the response for all Members of
Parliament, including MPs, Senators, and parliamentary staff.
Approximately 500 copies of the Government’s response are required.
The Supervisor of Postal and Distribution Services of Parliament will
assist departments in co-ordinating general distribution through
Parliament’s distribution services.
Communications
Depending on the nature of the government response,
communications activities may be considered following tabling in the Senate or
the House of Commons. For example, departmental communications branches have in
the past prepared press releases, organized media events for the Minister and/or
the Parliamentary Secretary, and briefed Government and opposition caucuses.
Again, officials should ensure that all Members have equal and timely access
to these materials and events.
Conclusion
In the Canadian system of parliamentary government, Ministers
are accountable to Parliament -- collectively and individually -- for the
policies, programs and activities of the Government. Public servants are
responsible for supporting Ministers in the exercise of their Parliamentary
duties. The preparation of these responses therefore should be accorded the
necessary priority in order to ensure that in all cases the Government tables a
comprehensive response that meets the requirements of rule 131 of the Rules of
the Senate and Standing Order 109 of the House of Commons.
For further information, contact the Legislation and House
Planning/Counsel Secretariat of the Privy Council Office at 957-5250.
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