Experts from the Parliament of Canada and the Legislative Assembly of Ontario shared valuable techniques on supporting parliamentary committees with staff from AIPA Member Parliaments from December 16 to 17, 2024. The PCAsia organised workshop on Parliamentary Committee Work was attended by 35 participants from four parliaments. Participants from Cambodia and Lao PDR attended in person at the Senate Compound of Cambodia, while others from the Philippines and Thailand participated online.
The workshop focused on practical objectives to improve participants’ understanding of preparing briefing notes, writing committee reports covering policies and legislative studies, offering legal assistance, preparing committees to connect with and update civil society organisations, and preparing legislative amendments for committee members. The training was also designed to help promote networking opportunities and the exchange of best practices among parliamentary practitioners (North-South and Regional/South-South).
On the first day, the focus was on the Legislative Procedure of the Parliament of Canada and the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, as well as an overview of committees in both institutions. The second day continued with a more detailed look at Research Support for Committees at the Legislative Assembly of Ontario and Technical and Procedural Support for Committees and their Members (with a focus on Ontario), followed by practical exercises including extensive and enthusiastic discussion and exchange sessions led by Ms Pia Anthony Muttu, Research Officer on Legislative Research from the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, and Mr John Christopher, former Senior Analyst in the Parliamentary Research and Information Service of Canada.
Consultant (presented on the Canadian Parliament filed).
At the end of the workshop, when participants’ feedback was solicited, 75% of the participants stated that their expectations had been met, their understanding of parliamentary committees in other parliaments had improved, and approximately 91% confirmed that they could apply the newly acquired knowledge and skills to their daily work. Furthermore, pre-home work-related themes should be included to spark new ideas, as well as additional group exercises and mixed-country groups to provide diversity and opportunity to share.