Hansard is the official verbatim report of the debates in the House. It is named after the family that began the tradition in the House of Commons at Westminster during the 19th century. The printing firm of Luke Hansard and his son, Thomas, began printing Britain's parliamentary proceedings in 1774. In 1811, Thomas Hansard became the first person officially authorized to publish reports of debates in the British Parliament. Before this time, note-taking in the galleries was forbidden. Anyone who printed a report of the debates risked imprisonment. This secrecy was intended to protect members from any attempt by the monarch to reduce their privileges and powers. One member who had his own speeches published was thrown in the Tower of London and all copies of the book were confiscated and burned.
It should be pointed out, however that the first records of debates were published in 1810 by William Cobbett, a 19th century reformer in England. Some have suggested that Hansard should really be called Cobbett. The word Hansard did indeed disappear in the House of Commons for a few years beginning in 1909. Staff reporters hired by the House of Commons disliked the poor quality of work done by the Hansard family. Although the reports continued to be known as Hansard, these editors refused to have their efforts tainted by using the word Hansard. As a result, Westminster reports were renamed Official Report. The name Hansard was reinstated in 1943.
Hansard officially began in Ontario in 1944. These first Hansard reports covered the first session of the 21st parliament and were prepared by shorthand writers and typewritten. Onion-skin carbon copies were made for distribution only to the Premier, each cabinet minister and for the party leaders. Previous to these official reports of debates there were some legislature records and parliamentary events reported through the newspapers.
After complaints about the inadequacy of onion-skin copies, Hansard started distributing the records in copied form during 1945 and 1946. In 1957, shorthand reporting gave way to tape recording.
Today, Hansard provides electronically printed or photocopied records of speeches and other proceedings in the legislature and all committees. All sittings of the House and open-session sittings of standing and select committees are covered. Remarks of various speakers are recorded using an extensive digital recording system linked to microphones at each member's desk. Reports are produced in English and French, depending on the language spoken during debates.
Hansard reporters record interjections on the house floor. The digital audio is transcribed by a team of transcribers and transeditors and the resulting draft transcript is then edited before final proofing and transmission to a commercial printer. The draft transcript of an afternoon sitting of House debates is produced within a few hours of proceedings. The printed report is available at Queen's Park and in the Publications Ontario bookstore shortly after 9 a.m. the next day. Evening sittings of the House (volume B) are usually available on this web site by 5 p.m. the next day, and from Publications Ontario two days after the sitting. Committee transcripts are produced as quickly as possible following the sitting of the committee, but are given a lower priority than House sittings.