Procedure and House Affairs committee  It would require a lot of thinking; let me put it that way.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  So many Standing Orders are predicated on either “sitting day” or “sitting”. It would be a significant rethink of the way the Standing Orders are structured.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  You know, that's entirely up to the House. History has shown us that people in Canada like to benefit from the summer months, their short summer season. I would say that at the outset, but certainly there's nothing stopping the House from amending the parliamentary calendar and s

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  If you look at it from a purely mathematical standpoint, if you're losing 15 statements, or 16 statements, you could add them to each of the four other days. You could split them in four and add them in that way. Similarly, for questions, you could make a calculation and say that

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Sure. If you take something as simple as the number of supply days per period, by taking one day out of the five-day week, you've reduced the number of days the House sits by 20%. The number of supply days per period is set down in the Standing Orders, and it's fixed. That increa

Procedure and House Affairs committee  The parliamentary calendar provides for a set number of sitting days per calendar year if the House is in session. For 2016, that number is 127. In previous years the number was around 135. This year we have essentially one fewer sitting week than normal. With regard to two sitt

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Obviously, if you take a day out of the five-day sitting week—on Fridays the House sits for 4.5 hours from 10 to 2:30—that lost time, if you want to put it that way, could be made up on the four other days. Historically, when the House has adjusted its sitting hours, it has trie

Procedure and House Affairs committee  As I understand it, it's primarily a debating chamber in the jurisdictions that employ that method. It's not too dissimilar from a committee of the whole, for those members who are familiar with that forum. We could certainly do more research for the committee on that point, bu

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I don't believe they're televised in Britain or Australia, but we can check on that.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  We can tackle electronic voting in two ways. First, assuming that members are present and we have electronic voting, there are many examples of how that can be done. Many jurisdictions employ it. None is perfect, but if you're talking about saving time, it can permit the taking o

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I'm not familiar with any at this time, no.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee. I'm glad to be here this morning. I have a short statement, and then I'll be happy to take your questions. It's a pleasure for me to be here to provide you with assistance as you consider parliamentary reform initiatives that

Procedure and House Affairs committee  With regard to your question about whether the project is on time, Mr. Lukiwski, right now we're looking at 2018, which is on schedule. Of course, Public Works is the main manager of the project. We work in close partnership with them. We have a staff of people who are dedicated

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I'm not in a position to really answer that question. This is properly directed to Public Works as the main driver for the renovations.