Health committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair and members of the committee, for your invitation to appear today to discuss the motion that was adopted by the House of Commons on October 26, which provides that this committee “undertake a study on the emergency situation facing Canadians in light of the s

Health committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. As the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel for the House of Commons, I am pleased to be here today to address any questions that the committee may have with respect to the House's motion and the role it prescribes for my office. I hope that my answers will

Procedure and House Affairs committee  The only constraint on that is section 48 of the Constitution, which talks about a quorum of 20 members for the exercise of the House's powers. The most likely area where that could be raised in court is the adoption of legislation. However, there is significant leeway in terms o

Procedure and House Affairs committee  If you have 20 members physically present in the chamber, there's no question. If section 48 of the Constitution is amended, there is no question. If you adopt standing orders or other instruments from the House to say that in the implementation of section 48, the House is de

Procedure and House Affairs committee  The privilege at issue is the same as the one that was in the U.K., which is the control over the proceedings of Parliament. It is the ability of the House to make determinations about how it's going to operate and how its procedures and usages will evolve with time. In this res

Procedure and House Affairs committee  My interpretation of privilege is that both the House of Commons here in Canada and in the U.K. have the ability to control parliamentary proceedings and adopt rules. It doesn't say that Canada's House of Commons has to have the same procedural practices and rules as the U.K. Hou

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Excuse me, could you repeat that, please?

Procedure and House Affairs committee  That is correct, but privilege also has its origin in the preamble of the Constitution. The Supreme Court has recognized...and there is the legislative codification of privilege that talks about those privileges that existed in the U.K. in 1867 and so on. However, there are also

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Brassard. Changing the Constitution itself is an option. That is something that could be done, but it requires a decision of Parliament as a whole. If you change the Constitution, you amend it and you can say for greater certainty that virtual presence is consider

Procedure and House Affairs committee  What I can say is that it is recognized as part of the long-standing legal and constitutional principles that the House is the master of its proceedings. Whether in a minority or a majority, the principle is there that the House can make those decisions. In terms of the Constitut

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I would say that it's important that if this committee recommends this and the House decides to go in the direction of accepting virtual presence for the purposes of quorum, it would really require identifying how that's going to be done and how secure that's going to be, and mak

Procedure and House Affairs committee  The courts haven't ruled on this issue. I provided my interpretation. According to parliamentary privilege and a broad and not a narrow interpretation of the Constitution, as long as the House has a quorum of 20 people, virtual presence can be considered physical presence. In my

Procedure and House Affairs committee  In the Mikisew Cree First Nation v. Canada decision, the Supreme Court clearly established that the law-making process and parliamentary procedure are internal affairs of the House. The courts won't interfere. The courts will be more inclined to interfere when a bill is passed, s

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I think that the House should make these types of decisions about the process. Certainly, the issue must be looked at carefully. A decision must be made regarding what mechanisms are acceptable, how to proceed and whether the security measures are enough for the House to consider

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes.