Conducting federal legislative historic research is a hard enough task without not knowing where to find the documents you need. While LEGISinfo and the Parliament of Canada website are excellent resources for bills, Hansard, and committee documentation alike, they only go so far back.
But not to worry! The Library of Parliament has created Canadian Parliamentary Historical Resources, a database replete with debates, journals, committee documentation and bills of both the Senate and the House of Commons. This database also makes available the Senate Minutes of Proceedings, the Rules of the Senate, the House of Commons Votes and Proceedings, the Standing Orders of the House of Common and even historical sessional papers from 1867 to 1901. This database is constantly being updated and added to, so it’s a good one to keep track of!
The documents maintained on this resource are searchable by either text or by its browse function. Although coverage can get a little spotty the farther back you go, this database contains documents from the 1st Session of the 1st Parliament (1867) until the end of the 1st Session of the 35th Parliament (1996).
Check out the “Help with Searching” page for more tips on how to utilize this resource.
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Know How, the blog of the Great Library 