Friday, September 30, 2016
Parliamentary Committee Meeting permalinks
On the Parliament of Canada website parl.gc.ca links to committee
meetings are usually given using document IDs. The problem is that if
the meeting is amended (which happens often), they are creating a new
document ID, and the previous document ID doesn't redirect to the new
one. Which means a link to a meeting that worked one day may break the
next day, with no explanation. (This is an incorrect implementation; I
don't know whether it is a CMS issue, or a lack of web understanding, or
what.)
So here's how a link is typically provided
http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=e&Mode=1&Parl=42&Ses=1&DocId=8451116
HOW TO make a permanent link
But it appears there is actually a permanent linking system in the background, it's just not used. It's of format
http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Pub=CommitteeMeetingNotice&Acronym=[4 letter committee acronym]&Mee=[meeting number]&Language=e&Mode=1&Parl=[Parliament number]&Ses=[Parliamentary session number]
e.g. for the above document ID 8451116 URL, the equivalent would be
http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Pub=CommitteeMeetingNotice&Acronym=ERRE&Mee=34&Language=e&Mode=1&Parl=42&Ses=1
That is to say, meeting number 34 of the ERRE Special Committee on Electoral Reform, during the 42nd Parliament, session 1.
So here's how a link is typically provided
http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=e&Mode=1&Parl=42&Ses=1&DocId=8451116
HOW TO make a permanent link
But it appears there is actually a permanent linking system in the background, it's just not used. It's of format
http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Pub=CommitteeMeetingNotice&Acronym=[4 letter committee acronym]&Mee=[meeting number]&Language=e&Mode=1&Parl=[Parliament number]&Ses=[Parliamentary session number]
e.g. for the above document ID 8451116 URL, the equivalent would be
http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Pub=CommitteeMeetingNotice&Acronym=ERRE&Mee=34&Language=e&Mode=1&Parl=42&Ses=1
That is to say, meeting number 34 of the ERRE Special Committee on Electoral Reform, during the 42nd Parliament, session 1.