How Canadians Govern Themselves - Parlement du Canada

How Canadians Govern Themselvesboth Houses and has been assented to,in the Queen’s name, by the GovernorGeneral or a deputy of the GovernorGeneral (usually a Supreme Courtjudge). Assent has never been refusedto a federal bill, and our first PrimeMinister declared roundly that refusalwas obsolete and had becomeunconstitutional. In Britain, RoyalAssent has never been refused since 1707.There are about 20 standing committees(Agriculture and Agri-food, CanadianHeritage, Transport, and so on) whosemembers are appointed at the beginningof each session or in September of eachyear, to oversee the work of governmentdepartments, to review particular areasof federal policy, to exercise proceduraland administrative responsibilitiesrelated to Parliament, to consider mattersreferred to them by the House, and toreport their findings and proposals tothe House for its consideration.examination of particular subjects,including legislative committees whosemandate is solely to examine a particularpiece of legislation. It also establishes,with the Senate, joint committees of thetwo Houses.END OF A SESSIONWhen both Houses have finished asession’s business, Parliament is“prorogued” until the next session,which must, by law, come within a year.Included in the work of standingcommittees is the consideration of thegovernment’s spending estimates. TheStanding Orders provide for theseestimates to be sent to the committeesfor review.Finally, standing committees aredesignated as having certain matterspermanently referred to them (such asreports tabled in the House pursuant toa statute, and the annual report ofcertain Crown corporations). Each ofthese automatic Orders of Reference ispermanently before the committees,and may be considered and reported onas the committees deem appropriate.The House of Commons can, and does,set up special committees for theWhat Goes On in Parliament47