Committee of the Whole

A committee of the whole is a device in which a legislative body or other deliberative assembly sits as a single committee with all assembly members being committee members. The procedural rules for committee meetings are different from those of other business conducted on the floor of the assembly; such meetings proceed as a collegiate discussion with questions and answers, rather than as a sequence of speeches each with minimal interruption from other members and strictly moderated by the speaker. The committee of the whole also differs from an assembly's other committees, such as standing committees and special committees, which usually have limited membership, meet outside the main debating chamber, and have less public access and recording than business conducted on the floor. The committee stage of important bills is typically conducted by the committee of the whole, whereas lesser bills may be disposed of by a smaller committee. Other main motions may also be considered by the committee of the whole.

In the Australian House of Representatives, the "Federation Chamber" meets separately from the House and has its own committee room, and deals with uncontroversial matters. The Federation Chamber was created in 1994, to relieve some of the burden on the entire House: different matters can be processed in the House at large and in the Federation Chamber, as they sit simultaneously. It is designed to be less formal, with a quorum of only three members: the Deputy Speaker of the House, one government member, and one non-government member. Decisions must be unanimous: any divided decision sends the question back to the House at large.

The Federation Chamber was introduced in 1994, and replaced the previous Main Committee.

In the Canadian House of Commons, a Committee of the Whole is when all the MPs sit in the chamber in one large committee. The committee is chaired by the deputy speaker or the deputy chair of committees. It uses committee rules rather than House procedures.

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