Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Improving Standing Committee Transparency and Public Engagement

Members of this Committee feel that standing committees should strive to operate in a transparent manner consistent with the seven core principles for public engagement described above, and the Guiding Principles and Process Conventions for consensus government adopted by the Members of the 18th Assembly. The recent adoption of these Principles and Conventions has had an impact on some of the work that this Committee was tasked with in the original referral motion. A recent addition to these Principles states: “The business of consensus government should be carried out in public, unless there are compelling reasons to meet in private. Public meetings should be the rule and not the exception.”

The following section has also been added to the protocol:

1. Public Briefings and Meetings with Standing Committees

1. Where Ministers offer or agree to a request to brief a Standing Committee, the briefing will be held in public. If confidential matters are expected to be discussed in the course of the briefing, or if they arise after the briefing has commenced, the Minister or any member of the committee may request that the meeting or a portion of it be held in camera.

1. The decision to hold all or a portion of a briefing in camera

rests with the Standing Committee on the understanding that Ministers may be limited in terms of what information they can provide in public.

1. For the purposes of this protocol, confidential matters include:

1. the draft business plan or budget of a department or public agency prior to their introduction in the Legislative Assembly;

1. a proposed policy initiative, legislative proposal or bill prior to its formal introduction in the Legislative Assembly;

1. a personnel matter relating to an employee or statutory officer;

1. concerns with the performance of a specific Minister; and

1. any other matter, where a member of the committee or the Minister identifies the matter as one which is, or would likely be, protected by privacy and data protection laws.

1. A motion to hold all or a portion of a committee meeting in camera shall include the nature of the item to be discussed as well as the rationale for discussing the matter

in camera.

This section applies only to standing committee meetings where a Minister will be present to brief committee, either at the request of the Minister or committee.

The intent of these provisions is that such meetings are as open to the public as possible, and the committee suggests this principle applies to the work of standing committees in general. The degree will necessarily vary according to the nature of work to be done.

For example, the committee suggests that it is not appropriate to provide public access to committees’ strategic planning, or sessional meetings of the Standing Committee on Priorities and Planning, which focus on preparing for business in the House later in the day.

The measures suggested below would considerably improve upon the information currently available, and provide greater public access to committee work and understanding of it.

As soon as possible, working with Legislative Assembly staff, each standing committee should:

1. Improve the ease-of-use and access to committee web pages and add the following information to what is currently provided:

2. known schedule, and public matters being considered;

3. meeting notices, agendas, witnesses’ submissions and presentation materials.

Specific requests for public input and contact information for the committee should be prominently displayed and readily accessible.

1. Identify, in advance, whether a meeting or a portion of a meeting may be held in camera, and how this will be reflected in the agenda. A committee may decide to hold an in camera meeting or portions of a meeting in camera to:

● deal with administrative and personnel matters;

● consider correspondence or a draft report, including the Committee’s own reports;

● receive a background briefing;

● deal with subject matters requiring confidentiality, such as budget items or bills that have not yet been introduced in the Assembly;

● do strategic planning, including sessional meetings of the Standing Committee on Priorities and Planning, which focus on preparing for business in the House; or

● any other matter that would or would likely entail private or privileged information.

3. Ensure that consideration is given to the use of plain language and summaries where appropriate in public communications and reports.

Consistent with the Guiding Principles and Process Conventions, each Committee has the discretion to hold a meeting or a portion of a meeting in camera if it determines that there is a compelling reason to do so.

The committee’s proposals are consistent with the House of Commons Compendium, a guide to specialized procedural topics, which are instructive despite the many differences between committees of Canada’s Parliament and those of our legislature.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to hand this back to the Member for Frame Lake.