Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
On May 11, 2000 the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly referred, by letter, a number of issues to the Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures for consideration. These issues had been brought to the Speaker's attention by Members of the Legislative Assembly.
Specifically, these issues were:
- The perceived need for a mechanism allowing for committees to make statements in the House related to the business of the committee;
- Members' access to confidential internal documents of standing committees of previous Legislative Assemblies;
- The possibility of imposing time limits on Members' questions and Ministers' answers during oral question period in the House; and
- The question of why it must be for an hour's duration when unanimous consent is granted to return to, or extend question period.
In addition to these items, the committee received a referral from the Speaker on October 13, 2000 to consider a process for the Legislative Assembly's consideration of a number of statutory reports that are tabled regularly in the Assembly. This item is designated as "item 5".
This report will address the committee's consideration of each item in turn and conclude with recommendations where appropriate.