Committees

Introduction

During the years that Speaker Fraser held the Chair, many changes were made to the structure and powers of committees. Several of the recommendations of the Special Committee on the Reform of the House of Commons (the McGrath Committee), which had earlier been put in place on a provisional basis, were made permanent in June 1987. The introduction of legislative committees, the addition of new rules governing committee membership and the broadening of the mandate of standing committees were some of the changes that stemmed from the reforms of the mid-1980s. In April 1991 and April 1992, further alterations were made in the structure and mandates of committees.

Like his predecessors, Speaker Fraser declined to interfere in internal committee matters. At the start of his term, however, because he wanted to assist the Members to make the new committee system work satisfactorily following the implementation of the McGrath Report recommendations, he tolerated complaints originating in committee being raised as points of order or questions of privilege in the House. This period of indulgence ended on November 18, 1987, when in a key decision the Speaker set out some of the procedural rules that have traditionally governed committees. On innumerable occasions thereafter, he referred Members back to these rules.

Speaker Fraser nevertheless continued to rule on questions having to do with committee reports, protection for witnesses, leaks of confidential information, broadcasting of committee proceedings and the powers of committees. Even in these cases, however, the Speaker tended to limit his role to ruling on the procedural aspects, leaving up to the House or, more often, the committee concerned, the decision on what further action, if any, to take.