A regulation is a legally binding form of law made pursuant to legislative authority delegated by Parliament. It is usually made by an executive body, like the Governor in Council, a minister, department, board or commission, and can be referred to as an “order” or “rule” among other names.
Parliament’s role in supervising the use of regulations has evolved throughout Canada’s history. Government operations became more complex after the Second World War; consequently, the technical details of a law are now increasingly set out in regulations, while the key principles are set out in legislation.
Parliament can play an important role in overseeing the executive branch’s use of regulations. Both the Senate and the House of Commons and their committees possess different powers to ensure that the use of regulations is subject to parliamentary oversight.
Some statutes empower Parliament to exercise oversight and control. For example, the Statutory Instruments Act contains a disallowance procedure, a unique procedure which can result in the regulation-making authority being compelled to revoke a regulation or a portion thereof. While the use of negative and affirmative resolutions of Parliament or the House of Commons is very limited, several statutes have their own mechanisms that empower Parliament to act in relation to the regulations made under these statutes.
In particular, parliamentary committees can play an important role in supervising the use of regulations. While the Standing Joint Committee for the Scrutiny of Regulations reviews regulations on the basis of criteria that relate to legality and procedure, other committees can review the policy or the underlying merits of regulations. Furthermore, several statutes allow parliamentary committees to exercise specific powers in relation to regulations.
Parliament can also exercise oversight in other ways; it can initiate debate about regulations or even pass legislation to amend or repeal legislative authorities that enable the making of regulations. In a very limited number of cases, Parliament can make regulations on a narrow range of topics.
Read the full text of the HillStudy: Parliamentary Oversight of Regulations
By Stephanie Feldman, Library of Parliament
Categories: Executive summary, Government, Parliament and politics, Law, justice and rights