House of Commons Procedure and Practice

The House sometimes alters its normal schedule of sittings to accommodate special events or ceremonies. These “special” or “unusual” sittings have included: sitting for the sole purpose of attendance at a Royal Assent ceremony; sitting for the purpose of electing a Speaker; conducting a secret sitting; and sitting to hear addresses by distinguished visitors.

   Sitting for the Sole Purpose of Attending a Royal Assent Ceremony

Royal Assent is the stage of the legislative process at which a bill that is identical to the version passed by the two Houses is approved by a representative of the Crown. Royal Assent may be signified in one of two ways: either by written declaration, or by a traditional ceremony in the Senate Chamber.^[124]

The Royal Assent Act provides that a traditional ceremony must be held at least twice a year and there is a requirement that the first appropriation bill in a session be given Royal Assent in the traditional form.^[125] The ceremonies bring together the three constituent parts of Parliament: the Crown, the Senate and the House of Commons. It also happens that Royal Assent ceremonies take place when the House stands adjourned. When these occur, the House must be recalled so that it may proceed to the Senate for Royal Assent.

In the late 1980s, the House followed the practice of adopting special orders permitting the Speaker, during periods of adjournment, to recall the House for the sole purpose of attending Royal Assent.^[126] The Standing Order authorizing the Speaker to recall the House, if it is deemed to be in the public interest, has also been invoked to recall the House for this reason.^[127] In 1994, the House codified in the Standing Orders the practice of recalling the House at the request of the government for the sole purpose of attending Royal Assent.^[128]

A sitting for the sole purpose of attending a Royal Assent ceremony is treated as a recall of the House with proper notice given so that the Speaker, or his or her deputy, may make the necessary preparations to reopen the House. The Speaker notifies the Clerk of the House of Commons and asks that the necessary steps be taken to recall the House. The Clerk carries out this responsibility by informing the offices of the Whips, House Leaders, Chair Occupants and independent Members of the date and time of the special sitting.

The House does not need a quorum for the Speaker to take the Chair when the Usher of the Black Rod appears in the Chamber to request the attendance of Members in the Senate.^[129] In responding to a summons of the Crown, the House is simply being asked to witness an event, rather than to make a decision. At the conclusion of the ceremony, the Speaker returns to the House and, once in the Chair, reports that the Governor General was pleased to give, in Her Majesty’s name, Royal Assent to certain bills. The Chair then immediately adjourns the House^[130] without proceeding to any other business.^[131]

A sitting for Royal Assent is not considered a regular sitting of the House or as a full sitting day. In order to reflect this situation, the sitting number assigned to the last full regular sitting completed by the House is again assigned to the sitting for Royal Assent, followed by a letter.^[132]

   Election of a Speaker

The election of the Speaker of the House of Commons is provided for in the Constitution. It is held at the opening of the first session of a Parliament.^[133] An election must also be held if the Speaker resigns or indicates his or her intention to resign during the Parliament, or if a vacancy occurs for any other reason.^[134] This constitutional obligation serves as a basis for the Standing Orders governing when and under what circumstances the election is to be held.^[135]

The House of Commons is not properly constituted until the Speaker is elected. Therefore, until the Speaker has been elected and takes the Chair, no other business may be addressed and no motion for adjournment, nor any other motion, may be entertained. The process for the election of the Speaker continues until one candidate has received a majority of the votes cast. If necessary, the House may sit beyond the ordinary hour of daily adjournment.^[136] When the Speaker has been elected and has taken the Chair, the Sergeant-at-Arms takes the Mace, the symbol of the authority of the House of Commons, from under the Table and places it on the Table, and this signifies that the House is duly constituted. After the usual period of acknowledgments and congratulations, the new Speaker usually informs the Members of the message from the Governor General announcing the time and date for the Speech from the Throne. The new Speaker then adjourns the House until the next sitting day.

   Secret Sittings

Although not explicitly provided for in the Standing Orders, the House has the privilege, the historical right and the authority to conduct its proceedings in private. This has been referred to as a “secret sitting”. The House may conduct an entire sitting or a portion of a sitting where “strangers” (anyone who is not a Member or an official of the House of Commons) are either not admitted or asked to withdraw from the galleries of the House.^[137] These meetings are regarded as sittings and are noted as such in the documents of the House. To conduct a secret sitting, the House has either adopted a special order to initiate the proceeding,^[138] or has simply not opened the doors of the House to the public following the prayers at the beginning of a sitting.^[139]

The House has met in secret on four occasions, all during wartime.^[140] As well, in the years shortly after Confederation, the House would, upon the commencement of a sitting but prior to the doors being opened to the public, conduct a portion of its sittings out of public view in order to discuss internal or “domestic” matters.^[141]

   Addresses by Distinguished Visitors

From time to time, the House of Commons Chamber is the site for a joint address to Parliament by a distinguished visitor (usually a head of state or head of government). Since the early 1940s, numerous distinguished visitors have addressed Members of the Senate and the House of Commons from the floor of the Chamber (see Figure 9.1).

Since the 1970s, the normal practice has been for the House to adopt a motion for a joint address, without debate, prior to the delivery of the address.^[142] In addition to the order to append the address and related speeches to the Debates,^[143] the motion has also included the date and time of the adjournment of the House, as well as other conditions for the order of business on the day of the address. By 1980, the motion also included permission for the transmission of the address and related speeches by the media.^[144]

When a joint address takes place, Senators and Members of the House of Commons assemble in the House of Commons Chamber. However, the assembly does not constitute a sitting and the Mace is not on the Table. An established protocol is nonetheless followed.

The seating arrangements in the House are not what they would be for a regular sitting. The Speaker of the House takes the Chair, with the Speaker of the Senate seated in a chair to his or her right. The Table is cleared of the usual paraphernalia and a lectern placed at its head. The Prime Minister and the distinguished visitor are seated along the side of the Table to the Speaker’s right; the Clerk of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Commons are seated along the other side of the Table. Seating for the rest of the official party, the Justices of the Supreme Court and the Senators is arranged on the floor of the House in front of the Table.

On arrival at the Centre Block, the distinguished visitor is met in the Rotunda by the Prime Minister and the Speakers of both Houses, the leaders of the parties in both Houses, the Clerk of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Commons, the Usher of the Black Rod and the Sergeant-at-Arms. The Speaker of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Commons invite the distinguished guest to sign the visitors books for the Senate and the House of Commons. Then the Prime Minister, the distinguished visitor, the two Speakers and the two Clerks are escorted to the office of the Speaker of the House of Commons by the Usher of the Black Rod and the Sergeant-at-Arms, while the party leaders are escorted to the House of Commons by pages from the Senate and the House of Commons.

At the appointed hour, the official party enters the House of Commons Chamber. The Speaker of the House of Commons presents the Prime Minister and invites him or her to address the assembly. The Prime Minister takes the floor and presents the distinguished visitor. Afterwards, the distinguished visitor is thanked by the Speaker of the Senate, followed by the Speaker of the House of Commons, who then concludes the assembly. The official party then exits the Chamber: the Usher of the Black Rod first, followed by the distinguished visitor and the Prime Minister, the Speaker of the Senate, the Clerk of the Senate, the Sergeant-at-Arms, the Speaker of the House of Commons and the Clerk of the House of Commons, proceeding to the office of the Speaker of the House of Commons.