HOW PARLIAMENTARY PROCEDURES CAN BE CONSTRAINED BY THE SIZE OF THE LEGISLATURE
The main chamber of the Yukon Legislative Assembly. during which the Assembly normally meets Mondays through Thursdays, from 1:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. During capital-‘S’-Sittings, the small number of MLAs forming the Assembly and the need to maintain quorum in the Chamber limits the times available for Committees to meet, practically speaking. During Sittings, any Standing, Select, or Special Committees that do meet, tend to meet on Fridays, or else in the morning on a sitting day. Occasionally, a Committee meeting may be scheduled to begin after the House rises for the day. Between Sittings, there are of course fewer constraints on when Committee meetings may be held. The small number of MLAs in the Assembly also means that we tend to have fewer Committees than is the case in larger jurisdictions, and furthermore, a smaller number of MLAs appointed to the Committees. Our Standing Orders limit the size of Standing, Special and Select Committees to no more than seven Members “without the consent of the Assembly.” Currently, Yukon’s five Standing Committees range in size from five Members (the Members’ Services Board), to six Members (the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, and the Standing Committee on Statutory Instruments), to seven Members (the Standing Committee on Rules, Elections and Privileges, and the
Standing Committee on Appointments to Major Government Boards and Committees). Most recently, in December 2020, the House established a Special Committee on Civil Emergency Legislation. Similar to some Select Committees in recent Assemblies, this Special Committee is an all-party, three-Member Committee, although unlike some of those earlier Committees, the Special Committee is not chaired by a Minister. One significant difference that the small size of our Assembly has on the form and operation of Committees is that, unlike in larger Legislative Assemblies, it is not unusual for Ministers to be permanent Members of Committees, or to ‘sub in’ at a Committee meeting. However, though it has occurred in the past, it is not the usual practice for a Minister to chair a Standing Committee. There are of course a number of other distinct elements of the Yukon Legislative Assembly’s operations which are affected by the reality of the small size of our House, including but not limited to the greater opportunities for private Members to speak, and comparatively less competition to catch the Speaker’s eye, but as they say, that is a tale for another day…
The Parliamentarian | 2021: Issue One | 100 years of publishing | 35
