Prime Minister Paul Martin has made democratic reform a top priority. As its first order of business, the government will table an action plan outlining a series of reforms to the way the affairs of the House of Commons are conducted.

December 12, 2003
Ottawa, Ontario

NEWS RELEASE

The Prime Minister has made democratic reform a top priority. As its first order of business, the government will table an action plan outlining a series of reforms to the way the affairs of the House of Commons are conducted.

The reforms are geared toward changing how the House functions, and ensuring that Parliament is an effective forum for expressing Canadians’ interests. They will strengthen the roles of individual parliamentarians and committees in the following ways:

• Government MPs will be freer to express their own views and those of their constituents. The government will use a new system to classify votes for its own Private Members.
  
  
• A three-line vote will be for votes of confidence and for a limited number of matters of fundamental importance to the government. Government members will be expected to support the government.
  
  
• Two-line votes are free votes on which the government will take a position and recommend a preferred outcome to its caucus. Ministers are bound to support the government’s position on a Two-line vote, as are Parliamentary Secretaries of Ministers affected by it, but Private Members are free to vote as they wish.
  
  
• On One-line free votes, all government MPs, including Ministers, will be free to vote as they see fit;
  
  
• Committees are an important vehicle through which Parliament functions. The government will ensure that committees are able to do this more effectively by routinely sending two and one-line vote bills to committee after first reading, enabling committees to be the central focus of real debate on legislative business. To support this work, the government will seek an increase in the Library of Parliament’s research budget for Committees and Parliamentarians. In consultation with the Board of Internal Economy, the government will also seek to increase the resources of Committees for research and to engage Canadians;
  
  
  
• The importance of the chairs of House Committees will be reinforced by these reforms, and the government will support the continued election of House Committee chairs. Government Private Members will have a role in choosing the committees on which they wish to sit;
  
  
• Achieving parliamentary consent will be an exercise in coalition building, and Ministers will be required to actively seek the support of their colleagues. The government, including Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries, will need to engage caucus and other Parliamentarians regularly on priorities and issues within their portfolios, early in the policy development process. Ministers will meet regularly with their respective House Committees to discuss priorities and get input on legislative initiatives. Changes have also been made to the Cabinet to ensure better representation of parliamentary concerns within the government. The Chief Government Whip will join Cabinet as Deputy Leader of the Government in the House of Commons. The Leader of the Government in the House of Commons is the Minister responsible for Democratic Reform and will be accountable for ensuring that the government’s democratic reform action plan is implemented;
  
  
• Deputy Ministers and departments will use the government’s recently released Management Accountability Framework to report to Treasury Board on their stewardship of public resources. The reports will be published on departmental web sites for the review of Parliamentarians and Canadians. The government will also work with committees to ensure closer scrutiny of departmental Estimates and Reports on Plans and Priorities, and Departmental Performance Reports;
  
  
• In order to ensure a functional and transparent system that encourages good candidates for the public benefit, the government will consult with the appropriate House Standing Committees on how best to proceed on prior review of appointments to certain key positions, including Heads of Crown Corporations and agencies. The government will specifically consult the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights on how best to implement prior review of appointments of Supreme Court of Canada Judges. These Committees will have the opportunity to consider which other appointments could be subject to their review. Deputy Ministers will continue to be reviewed according to the existing Standing Orders; and
  
  
• The government will propose that an all-party committee be asked to consider and provide recommendations on changes to the Standing Orders, Management of House Business, Conduct of Committee of the Whole, and Question Period.
  
  These changes to the way the House of Commons functions will be supplemented by other reforms, including:
  
• an enhanced role for Parliamentary Secretaries in policy development and the assignment of specific responsibility for policy issues to Parliamentary Secretaries by the Prime Minister;
  
  
• realignment of Ministers’ offices within existing budgets to include a new staff position entitled Director of Parliamentary Affairs to strengthen relations between Ministers and Parliamentarians; and
  
  
• a commitment to hold annual First Ministers’ Meetings and an annual report to Parliament by the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs on the state of federal/provincial/territorial relations, priorities, and initiatives.