What's a take-note debate?

Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor stands in the House of Commons during a debate on Canadian troops in Afghanistan. (Jonathan Hayward/Canadian Press)

A take-note debate is a motion before the House of Commons – using the words "that the House 'take note' of" – to ask members of the House for their views on an issue or aspect of public policy. No vote is taken during a take-note debate.

If there's no vote, what's the point?

According to a committee struck to examine improvements in Parliamentary procedure, take-note debates "allow members to participate in the development of government policy, making their views known before the government makes a decision; they allow the government to canvass the views of members." The debates also allow members to get their views on a topic on the record without the formality and partisan pressure associated with a Parliamentary vote.

Who came up with this idea?

The government of former prime minister Jean Chrétien introduced the procedure of the take-note debate to the Canadian Parliament in 1994 to discuss the future of peacekeeping in the former Yugoslavia. Such debates are common in other parliamentary systems.

What have politicians taken note of in the past?

Besides Yugoslavia in 1994, Canadian MPs have taken note of:

• Canada's deployment in Afghanistan in 2005
• Mad cow disease in 2004
• Ballistic missile defence in 2004
• Hepatitis C in 2004
• Iraq in 2003
• Health care in 2002
• The Canadian Coast Guard in 2002
• The international campaign against terror in 2001