PACP Committee Report

THE POWER OF COMMITTEES TO ORDER THE PRODUCTION OF DOCUMENTS AND RECORDS

SUPPLEMENTARY OPINION

Presented by the members of the Committee representing the Conservative Party of Canada

CPC Members want to highlight that when a committee or the House of Commons calls for persons, papers and records the consideration of the public interest needs to be the first and most important consideration.  During the March 24, 2009 committee meeting, the Member of Parliament for Vaudreuil-Soulanges requested the audiocassette of the GENS consultations.  The participants in these consultations understood that their participation and comments were to be protected from disclosure by the Privacy Act and therefore may have shared confidential information that they would not otherwise have shared.  When the committee debated requesting the audiocassettes, we believe that the opposition parties did not consider the public interest when demanding the production of these audiocassettes. 

CPC Members also note the former General Counsel to the House of Commons, Ms. Diane Davidson, outlined the powers of a parliamentary committee to summon for persons, papers and records in her article, The Powers of Parliamentary Committees.  The article states,

“The first step is for the committee to adopt a motion ordering the production of the required information or the attendance of the witness and then to report the refusal to the respective Houses.  Since committees do not possess contempt powers as of right, it is the Houses themselves, which must decide what action is to be taken.”^[1]