The Harper Conservatives are making a bid to have parliamentary committee business conducted in secret.
Widely considered as a test run for all committees, the Official Languages Committee is currently debating a motion to conduct its future committee business in camera. The motion was originally introduced by Costas Menegakis (Richmond Hill, Ont., CPC). The Government Operations and Estimates Committee has also given notice of a similar motion, sponsored by Mike Wallace (Burlington, Ont., CPC).
Because there is no strict definition of “committee business,” committees generally interpret the term as they see fit. Historically, usual practice has excluded the hearing of witnesses and the clause-by- clause study of bills, but there are no procedural guarantees safeguarding against this.
In the past, in camera (meaning in private from the Latin for in chamber) committee meetings were held in private to deal with certain administrative matters. These include hearing a background briefing, considering a draft report, planning for future business, and dealing with sensitive topics, such as national security, among other things.
