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Preparing a Brief

A brief is a document in which an individual or an organization expresses a point of view on a subject being discussed in a public consultation held by a parliamentary committee of the National Assembly.

All of the briefs and other documents submitted to a committee clerk during a consultation are forwarded to the members of the committee. The author of a brief may also be invited to take part in the public hearings held during the consultation process. A brief containing defamatory, insulting or obscene language or inciting hatred or violence could be refused.

Tips for Drafting a Brief

Each brief must be presented on letter–format paper (21.5 cm x 28 cm or 8.5 in x 11 in).

Writing style, length and layout are left to the discretion of the author. However, we suggest dividing the brief into three parts:

  • Identification of the author
  • Summary
  • General presentation

Identification of the Author

A short introduction of the individual or organization submitting the brief helps the committee to

  • get to know who is addressing it
  • understand an organization’s representativeness (by the number of members or employees it has, for example)
  • judge the relevance of the intervention to the subject being studied

Summary

If the brief is more than 10 pages long, it must contain a summary of no more than one page.

General Presentation

The brief must state the author’s stance on the subject as clearly as possible.

Since they might have to be defended before the committee during a public hearing, the opinions and arguments expressed in a brief must be

  • relevant
  • based on fact
  • made apparent throughout the brief

Submitting a Brief

Briefs must be submitted to the clerk of the appropriate committee before the deadline for doing so.

For a general consultation, briefs must be submitted electronically whenever possible. If it is impossible to do so, they can be sent by mail.

Briefs sent by email or by mail must include the following information:

  • The name of the individual or organization submitting the brief
  • Their full address
  • Their telephone and fax number
  • Their email address
  • The name and contact information of the person responsible for the file within the organization, if applicable

This information will allow the committee clerk to confirm that the brief has been received and, where applicable, to invite its author(s) to a public hearing.

Sending a brief by email

Briefs should be sent to the committee’s email address.

Go to To Learn More on this page to find the email addresses of the parliamentary committees.

Sending a brief by mail

Briefs can be sent to or dropped off at the following address:

National Assembly of Québec
Parliamentary Committees Directorate
Pamphile-Le May Building
1035 rue des Parlementaires, 3rd floor
Québec, Québec  G1A 1A3

Submitting a Brief for a Special Consultation

For a special consultation, the committee clerk invites individuals and organizations to take part and instructs them on how to submit their brief.

Publication of a Brief

Unless the committee decides otherwise, briefs and all the personal information they contain are made public. They are kept at the Library of the National Assembly and are also available on the National Assembly website on the page set up for the consultation in question.

To see the consultations undertaken by a parliamentary committee, go the Parliamentary Proceedings home page for a link to the appropriate committee’s page.

To Learn More

For more on drafting a brief, contact the Parliamentary Committees Directorate.

  • Telephone: 
    • Québec City area: 418-643-2722
    • Toll-free: 1-866-337-8837
  • Fax: 418-643-0248
  • Email: commissions@assnat.qc.ca

Each of the committees can also be reached by email.

 

Additional Information