Real Change: A New Plan For a Strong Middle Class (page 32)

"Dominic LeBlanc will appear before the Commons procedure and House affairs committee this morning to promote the Liberal vision of how Parliament could work better. […] LeBlanc is expected to make a short statement and take questions from MPs in an effort to garner support for the priorities outlined in his mandate letter from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, including: Strengthening parliamentary committees' ability to work independently to scrutinize legislation, including providing more resources for research and advice and removing parliamentary secretaries as voting members." (CBC, January 8, 2016)

“There's the issue of not having parliamentary secretaries as voting members of committees. I understand you've had some conversations at this table about that issue.” (Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, January 8, 2016)

 «In light of their Government duties, parliamentary secretaries do not chair standing committees. For the purpose of clarity, a parliamentary secretary cannot be, or stand in for, a voting member of a committee that falls under their responsibility as parliamentary secretary.» (Prime Minister of Canada’s Website, January 6, 2016)

"The Government committed to ensuring that Parliamentary Secretaries would not be voting members on committees that fall within their Minister’s mandate. That commitment does not, however, mean that Parliamentary Secretaries should not have a role on committees. Parliamentary Secretaries could be given the same rights on committees as is proposed for independent members. " (Reforming the Standing Orders of the House of Commons)