About Committees

Committees of the House

Committees of the House of Assembly derive their authority from the House and enjoy the privileges that apply to the Parliament from which they were appointed. Committees are made up of Members of the House of Assembly, and are able to carry out work the House as a whole would find difficult to undertake.

In addition, Committees:

• Enhance the democratic process by providing for greater accountability of the Executive branch of government to the House of Assembly through investigation of questions of government administration and service delivery;
• Provide an important means for Members to carry out detailed investigations, inquiries or examinations before the House of Assembly must come to a decision;
• Enable consultation and collection of the views of individuals, community groups, professionals, businesses, academics and other groups;
• Broaden the role of individual Members by providing an opportunity for them to contribute their experience and expertise in a parliamentary forum outside of the House;
• Provide a mechanism to make Parliament more relevant and accessible to the people it represents by allowing more direct contact between the public and elected officials on issues (i.e., take Parliament to the people); and
• Promote public debate on a subject by undertaking an inquiry.

The Guide to Standing and Select Committees provides a summary of the role, powers and general practices of Committees of the House of Assembly. It is based on the Standing Orders, accepted practices, conventions, precedents and parliamentary authorities as they exist currently.

Standing Committees

Standing Committees are the permanent Committees of the House as established under the Standing Orders. They may examine and report on the following:

1. Matters referred to them by the House;
2. Matters traditionally considered within their mandate;
3. Draft legislation before its introduction in the House and/or Bills which have received second reading; or
4. Estimates as referred by the House of Assembly.

Standing Committees are created at the beginning of a general assembly and continue for the duration of that assembly. The Striking Committee (also established at the beginning of a general assembly, chaired by the Government House Leader) is responsible for determining the membership of the Standing Committees.

In Newfoundland and Labrador, there is provision for six Standing Committees in the Standing Orders.

Select Committees

Occasionally the House may decide to appoint a Select Committee for a particular purpose. This is done by resolution of the House, which is the order of reference for the Committee, specifying such things as:

• the matter(s) the Committee is to examine and report on;
• the membership of the Committee;
• expectations regarding the content and delivery of the Committee’s report;
• time frame for the Committee to report to the House; and/or
• expectations regarding consultations/public engagement, extraordinary technology requirements, travel and etc.

Select Committees cease to exist once they deliver their final report, or when otherwise specified in the terms of reference.

Committee of the Whole House

A Committee of the Whole House is a meeting of all the Members of the House sitting in the Chamber as a committee. Presided over by Deputy Speaker or Deputy Chair of Committees, rather than the Speaker, the Committee of the Whole conducts a clause-by-clause/detailed analysis of bills and any other matters which might be referred to it.

In Committee of the Whole House, the Mace is removed from the Table as the Speaker is not in the Chair. A Member may speak for 10 minutes as many times as they wish, as long as there is an intervening speaker.

Other Committees

Periodically, committees consisting of Members from all parties represented in the House of Assembly have been established by government to consider specific matters. While these committees comprise Members of the House of Assembly, they are not committees of the House; they are supported by departmental resources.

Recently active all-party committees established in this manner are:

• All-Party Committee on Substance Use and Addictions
• All-Party Committee on Basic Income
• All-Party Committee Established to Modernize the Elections Act
• All-Party Committee on Democratic Reform (see also Select Committees)
• All-Party Committee on Mental Health
• All-Party Committee on Shrimp Allocations (LIFO)