Evidence of meeting #112 for Canadian Heritage in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was cbc.
A video is available from Parliament.
4:50 p.m.
Conservative
Philip Lawrence Conservative Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON
I'd like to propose an amendment.
I thank my colleague for the very good idea.
I'm going to do this on the fly, and perhaps we can get the assistance of the clerk to iron out the wording. I would like to put that we have the meeting with Ms. Tait for no less than two hours on April 11, the first day of our return.
4:50 p.m.
Conservative
4:50 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
You would add “no less than two hours on April 9”. All right, that's a new amendment.
Martin, did you put your hand up?
4:50 p.m.
Liberal
4:50 p.m.
Bloc
Martin Champoux Bloc Drummond, QC
I think the amendment reflects what we just discussed. I think everyone agrees that we should hold this meeting quickly. If we hold it on April 9, that will give us time. That's perfectly reasonable. I don't think we even need to debate it any further, because I have the impression that everyone is in agreement.
We could go straight to a vote, Madam Chair. I absolutely support this amendment.
4:55 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
Mr. Noormohamed's hand was up with regard to this amendment by Mr. Lawrence.
4:55 p.m.
Liberal
Taleeb Noormohamed Liberal Vancouver Granville, BC
I just want to clarify that it is an invitation from Mr. Champoux. I just want to make sure that we have clarity around whether this is an invitation or a summons to the CBC CEO. It's an invitation, correct?
4:55 p.m.
Liberal
Taleeb Noormohamed Liberal Vancouver Granville, BC
It's an invitation. Okay, thank you. That's all I want to know.
4:55 p.m.
Liberal
Anna Gainey Liberal Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount, QC
I just have a question.
If she's not available that date—let's say she has a vacation already planned or something—is it not better to leave it open to “as soon as possible” or...? I don't know. If she can't do that date, then where are we? Do we resume this whole conversation with a new date? Can we not just say “as soon as she is able”?
4:55 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
You have posed a question.
Mr. Noormohamed, do you want to answer it? Are you speaking to the—
4:55 p.m.
Liberal
Taleeb Noormohamed Liberal Vancouver Granville, BC
My question was going to be similar to Ms. Gainey's.
We also have the folks from Bell, who have disappeared into the wind. It just seems like if the date doesn't work, then people just won't be showing up.
I think we have to deal with these things with some type of urgency. For example, in the situation with Bell, we still haven't been able to pin these guys down. I'm wondering, from a scheduling perspective, how this would all work.
4:55 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
The situation with Bell is that we gave them a date. They were not able to make that date. I mentioned that situation at one of the last meetings we had, and everyone agreed that we can't make people come if they cannot. The clerk has been negotiating a time for them to appear.
Did you want to speak to that, Madam Clerk?
4:55 p.m.
The Clerk
Bell has responded that the next availability of the CEO to appear is Tuesday, May 28.
4:55 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
The committee may want to deal with that because it was a summons for Bell, wasn't it?
Okay, it wasn't a summons; it was an invitation.
The committee will want to deal with it, but right now we are actually dealing with Mr. Lawrence's amendment.
Go ahead, Philip.
4:55 p.m.
Conservative
Philip Lawrence Conservative Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON
I think it's more than reasonable, given that we're giving the CEO three weeks of notice for her to be here, but I would also be amenable to changing it to any time before that, to April 9 or before, if you want to give the clerk additional time. The Conservatives are more than happy to meet during the break week if that better suits the CEO's schedule.
4:55 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
Thank you.
Is there any further discussion?
Martin, do you want to discuss Philip's amendment?
4:55 p.m.
Bloc
Martin Champoux Bloc Drummond, QC
I have no problem with Mr. Lawrence's proposal. I probably would have trusted the good faith of Ms. Tait, who clearly told us here that we didn't need to summon her to appear and that we could simply invite her. In any case, that's her duty since, in her own words, she has an obligation to accept the committee's invitations.
We can invite her to appear on April 9, or at her earliest availability, should she be out of the country, as she was last fall when she travelled to Australia. So I would suggest April 9 or the first deadline, or as soon as possible after that.
4:55 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
You are adding a subamendment: “or the earliest....”
We'll go to Philip and then to Kevin and Niki.
4:55 p.m.
Conservative
Philip Lawrence Conservative Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON
Do I have the floor, Madam Chair?
4:55 p.m.
Conservative
Philip Lawrence Conservative Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON
I wouldn't want to just leave it open to “as early as convenient” because convenience can be defined in different ways. I think “any time up to April 9, including April 9” would be good, but I'm okay with just saying “April 9”. It's simple. Let's just go ahead and get her here.
If there is an issue.... Maybe the clerk could inform us as to what would happen if Ms. Tait says she is unavailable then.