What Changes Can Hansard Editors Make?

Hansard is an historical record of the proceedings of the Legislative Assembly, a written account of what our elected Members actually said in the House. Printed under the authority of the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, Alberta Hansard is substantially, though not strictly, verbatim.

Hansard editors can't simply edit Members' remarks as they see fit; they must follow the strict editorial guidelines set out in the Standing Orders, or rules, of the Assembly. Standing Order 113 dictates that

revisions shall be limited to the correction of grammar, spelling and punctuation, ensuring that the correct parliamentary forms are observed, and minimizing superfluous repetition and redundancies, but no material alterations shall be made, nor any amendments that would in any way tend to change the sense of what has been spoken;
the transcript shall remain an accurate and, as far as possible, an exact report of what was said;
a Member has no right to alter the report of any speech or remarks attributed to the Member in any way, and the Speaker shall determine whether a Member's suggested correction shall be admitted;
if a Member wishes to suggest any correction, he shall inform the Editor within one hour of the posting of the blues, unless the Speaker has agreed otherwise;
unless a Member can demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Speaker that

the Member has been misrepresented, or
that the record of the Member's remarks is manifestly erroneous,

a Member may not change the sense of anything that the Member has been recorded as saying, nor shall the Member be permitted to make any insertion or strike out any passage that the Member regrets having uttered.