The House of Commons Debates in Canada

Debates and Journals are different records

The House of Commons of Canada keeps two main records of each sitting. The Journals are the official record of what is done in the House, drawn from the scroll kept by Table Officers and signed by the Clerk ¹. The Debates are the transcribed, edited and corrected record of what is said in the House and in a Committee of the Whole ¹.

For a quotation, the Debates are the record to check. For a decision, such as the result of a vote, the Journals are the record of what the House did ¹. The House has exclusive control of its publications, and all of them are produced in both official languages ¹.

The name Hansard is shared across many parliaments. The Parliament of South Africa explains that it comes from the English printer L Hansard (1752 to 1828) and his descendants, who compiled the reports until 1889 ⁵.

How the Debates are produced

The Debates are published under the authority of the Speaker. They are compiled from the audio recording of the proceedings and from information supplied by Parliamentary Publications staff on the floor of the House ¹. The two language editions are published separately with the same page numbers, and the language used by the Member speaking is shown ¹.

The Debates follow the actual order of proceedings and contain the full deliberations of the House ¹. It is not usual to include material not delivered in the Chamber, with some exceptions. Division lists for recorded votes are one example, and the House has at times ordered other texts printed as appendices ¹. Editorial notes may be inserted in certain circumstances ¹.

• 1875: reporting of House proceedings began on a contract basis, overseen by a committee of the House ¹.
• April 1880: the House agreed to hire its own permanent reporting staff ¹.
• 1882: the House agreed to produce an index to the Debates ¹.
• End of each session: a compilation of the revised Debates is produced in a limited number of bound copies ¹.

The blues and what Members may change

The unedited transcriptions are still called the blues, after the blue paper once used for them ¹. Each Member who speaks is sent the transcription of their intervention. The blues are posted on the internal House website and sent to the Press Gallery ¹. The blues are a preliminary copy and are not to be quoted from during debate ¹.

Members or their authorized delegates may suggest corrections to errors and minor alterations, but may not make material changes to the meaning of what was said ¹. Editors decide whether a suggested change is a correction or a minor alteration, and may make a sentence more readable without changing its meaning ¹. Blues must be returned within set deadlines, and if they are not returned the House assumes no changes are sought ¹.

Two languages in one record

The Official Languages Act makes English and French the official languages of Parliament and gives everyone the right to use either in debates ³. It requires simultaneous interpretation facilities ³. Everything in official reports of debates must be reported in the language in which it was said, with a translation into the other official language ³. The journals and other records of Parliament must be made, kept, printed and published in both languages ³.

Legal protection for copies and extracts

The Parliament of Canada Act sets out how published parliamentary records are treated in court. A printed copy of the journals of either House is admitted as evidence of the journals without proof that it was printed by order of the House ⁴. A person sued over publication of a report or proceedings made under the authority of the Senate or House of Commons may produce a certificate from the Speaker or Clerk, after 24 hours notice ⁴.

Section 9 covers extracts. In proceedings over printing an extract from or abstract of such a report, the defendant may show it was published in good faith and without malice ⁴.

Video, audio and the electronic Hansard idea

A 1972 House committee report described an electronic Hansard, in which radio and television coverage would be a faithful record of proceedings in the same sense as the written Debates ². On 25 January 1977 the House approved broadcasting on principles similar to those for the printed official reports, and coverage began on 17 October 1977 ².

The ParlVU service carries live and on-demand video from the Chamber and from televised committee rooms, plus audio from non-televised public committee meetings ². Members can view proceedings in French, English or the floor language, which is the actual language of debate without interpretation ². The House keeps video and audio of the current Parliament and up to 10 years of past proceedings for on-demand use ².