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Strategic Objective 1
To respond to the evolving role of Members and the institution
Canadian parliamentary democracy is always evolving to respond to new challenges. The House of Commons Administration supports the efforts of all Members to meet these challenges by supporting the evolution of parliamentary practices and rules; and providing new, innovative ways to access parliamentary information.
Supporting the evolution of parliamentary practices and rules
The procedures pertaining to proceedings in both the House and in committee are often changed to better suit the needs of Members. As further changes are proposed and implemented, the House Administration will provide advice and support on how best to proceed. The processes concerning the procedures for Private Members' Business, for example, will be an ongoing subject of attention. The on-line resource Compendium of House of Commons Procedure will be regularly updated to be an accurate reflection of current practices and usages.
Improving Members' access to parliamentary information
The administrations of the Senate, the House of Commons and the Library of Parliament continue to work together to identify opportunities for collaboration in the management and provision of information generated by the parliamentary process, including information on legislation. The objective continues to be an integrated, modern approach to the collection, management and sharing of parliamentary information.
PRISM is a House of Commons technology program for managing procedural information, publishing of parliamentary publications and supporting the planning of parliamentary events. Representatives from the service areas of the House Administration currently using PRISM will work to establish business- led governance to support ongoing investments. In the coming year, consultations will be undertaken with users, and processes will be developed to initiate, review and approve projects, as well as to validate and deploy solutions. Within the updated PRISM framework, these solutions will facilitate the production of parliamentary publications and allow information to be retrieved in a more timely and efficient manner.
Work also will continue on the second phase of Smart Book, a software tool to help publish both hard-copy and electronic documents and improve document workflow. The new version of this software will take full advantage of underlying technologies and will be used to manage and publish articles for the Compendium of House of Commons Procedure, making it easier to maintain and update this important on-line resource.
Facilitating the involvement and awareness Canadians have about their Parliament and the parliamentary process
New features are being developed as part of the ParlVU service-a media portal through which citizens can see and hear Parliament live and on demand, in both official languages. These new features include: links to the transcripts of parliamentary proceedings; the ability to view proceedings using different mobile devices; a "power browser" with enhanced viewing features; and closed captioning services for Question Period.
Currently, real-time closed captioning of Question Period is offered in both official languages for the House of Commons Chamber proceedings. These services will be expanded in the future to include televised committee proceedings.
Just prior to the end of the 39th Parliament, enhancements were made to the committees' section of the website. The improvements provide Members, staff and the public better access to information regarding committee members and witnesses and also offers improved subscription features to allow users to follow the work of committees. Over the 40th Parliament, these new features will be increasingly utilized and will in turn permit further refinements to better serve parliamentarians and the public alike.
