Welcome
Welcome to the online version of Parliamentary Practice in British Columbia. This website contains the content that made up the book’s fifth edition, published in 2020. This online resource is intended to help users easily search and navigate the key procedural authority used in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia — to gain a better understanding of how the Legislative Assembly operates procedurally and undertakes its parliamentary business.
This resource serves as a complement to, and is not a supplement for, the Standing Orders of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia — the permanent rules of procedure — as well as sessional orders and special orders that may be adopted by the Legislative Assembly from time to time.
British Columbia was the first sub-national parliamentary jurisdiction in Canada to develop its own procedural authority in 1981. This edition builds on the foundational work of E. George MacMinn, O.B.C., Q.C., who served as Clerk of the Legislative Assembly from 1993 to 2011, and who authored the first four editions of the book.
The fifth edition includes updated procedure and precedents and is organized into 18 thematic chapters, with the Standing Orders, Practice Recommendations and pertinent excerpts from statutes featured prominently throughout. Further details are outlined in the Preface.
I was honoured to edit and oversee the production of this volume with the dedicated research and writing assistance of Artour Sogomonian, Susan Sourial and Ron Wall. The online version was brought to life by a talented team in Hansard Services led by Dan Kerr and comprised of Betsy Gray, Pamela Holmes, Julie McClung and Patrick Stobbe. Numerous colleagues from many departments of the Legislative Assembly also proudly contributed to this project and I am grateful for the contributions of each individual recognized in Acknowledgments.
It is our hope that this edition, the first to be freely available online, will contribute to further transparency, accessibility, appreciation and understanding of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia and the important work of its elected Members.
Kate Ryan-Lloyd
Clerk of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
October 2021
Content Disclaimer
The fifth edition of Parliamentary Practice in British Columbia was published in early 2020. Users should be mindful that procedure is ever-evolving; Standing Orders are amended from time to time, the Legislative Assembly’s practices and procedures evolve, and new precedents are established. This has been especially pertinent as the Legislative Assembly adopted significant changes to how it undertakes its business to allow its Members to fulfill their important parliamentary responsibilities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Standing Orders and Acts reproduced and cited in this resource are included for information purposes only, are not official versions, and are current to January 1, 2020. The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia does not warrant the accuracy or completeness of the Acts reproduced or provisions of Acts cited. The most up-to-date unofficial versions of Acts in force in British Columbia may be found on B.C. Laws (external link).
Contact Information
For further information about Parliamentary Practice in British Columbia or matters relating to parliamentary procedure at the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, please contact the Office of the Clerk at 250-387-3785 or OfficeoftheClerk@leg.bc.ca.