HANSARD MISSION STATEMENT

To provide an accurate, substantially verbatim account of the proceedings of the parliament and its committees which, while usually correcting obvious mistakes, neither adds to nor detracts from the meaning of the speech or the illustration of the argument.

For chambers:
A rendition which is accurate and readable, with minimal alterations being made only to clarify ambiguous or confusing passages and to ensure that the meaning is understandable and the argument coherent. Politically sensitive subjects require a more strictly verbatim approach.

For committees:
An accurate, basically verbatim rendition. Witnesses should, by and large, be given their exact words, even though these are sometimes confusing and not always strictly grammatical. Editing should be kept to a minimum and used only in circumstances where it is deemed absolutely necessary and can be justified as such.