Information & Ethics Committee on Nov. 15th, 2007

[The Chair, Liberal, Paul Szabo]

In respect to the members—

[Carole Lavallée, Bloc, Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC]

I thought you were talking about Mr. Hubbard's motion. That is why I was not interrupting.

[The Chair, Liberal, Paul Szabo]

Mr. Hubbard did not make a motion. He moved the motion before you. He just moved the existing motion. That's all he's done.

So I've called the question.

(Motion agreed to) [See Minutes of Proceedings]

[The Chair, Liberal, Paul Szabo]

Now, on the subcommittee on agenda and procedure, colleagues, these are guidelines that guide the committee from time to time. If members should want to reconsider any of these at any time, the committee has the authority to do that. So give it some thought so we can adjust as necessary, if necessary.

Can I have a mover?

[Dean Del Mastro, Conservative, Peterborough, ON]

I would like to move that.

(Motion agreed to) [See Minutes of Proceedings]

[The Chair, Liberal, Paul Szabo]

On reduced quorum, do we have a mover?

[Russ Hiebert, Conservative, South Surrey—White Rock—Cloverdale, BC]

Mr. Chair, may I speak to this next one?

[The Chair, Liberal, Paul Szabo]

Madame Lavallée.

[Carole Lavallée, Bloc, Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC]

I do not want to move the motion, I want to talk about it.

[The Chair, Liberal, Paul Szabo]

Do we have a mover for the motion?

[Carole Lavallée, Bloc, Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC]

I want to speak against the motion, Mr. Chairman.

[The Chair, Liberal, Paul Szabo]

It may die for a lack of a mover.

Mr. Del Mastro is going to move that motion on reduced quorum.

Mr. Hiebert.

[Russ Hiebert, Conservative, South Surrey—White Rock—Cloverdale, BC]

Thank you, Chair.

I'd like to just simply make one addition: that at the end of the motion as it's currently stated that it read “and one member of the government”, just to make sure we have somebody present for a quorum.

[The Chair, Liberal, Paul Szabo]

Okay, we have an amendment on the table.

Speaking to the amendment, Madame Lavallée.

[Carole Lavallée, Bloc, Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC]

I do not want to speak about this amendment, Mr. Chairman. I raised my hand to speak about the motion as a whole, because I do not agree with it. The current requirements regarding quorum are appropriate, and we do not need to change them. I do not see why we would hear from witnesses with only three members presents. That would probably never work very well. In addition, it would not be polite to our guests, to say the least.

Furthermore, Mr. Hiebert is suggesting that there must be a representative from his party present. The Conservatives should simply turn out for meetings. I fail to see why their presence is required for quorum. That makes absolutely no sense at all.

I will be opposing the amendment even more strongly, but I am also opposed to the motion on reduced quorum. I think the current quorum is appropriate.

[Gérard Asselin, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

What is the current quorum?

[Carole Lavallée, Bloc, Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC]

At the moment, it is the majority of committee members.

[The Chair, Liberal, Paul Szabo]

The motion on the table is as printed in front of you. An amendment has been proposed to add the phrase “and one member of the government” at the end. We are at debate.

Mr. Martin.

[Pat Martin, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

I'll pass, thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Paul Szabo]

Mr. Thibault.

[Robert Thibault, Liberal, West Nova, NS]

I'm going to be voting against this amendment, because it would mean that if government members on the committee chose not to hear from a witness or to discuss a motion, they would simply have to be absent, and the committee would be unable to proceed. That could tie the committee's hands, so I cannot support that.

[The Chair, Liberal, Paul Szabo]

Mr. Wallace, please.

[Mike Wallace, Conservative, Burlington, ON]

I just want to comment on that previous comment.

To be fair then, if we're talking about fairness, including one member of the opposition applies in the same way. If the opposition decided not to show up—

[Robert Thibault, Liberal, West Nova, NS]

It's not “official opposition”; it's just “opposition”. It could be two and one.

[Mike Wallace, Conservative, Burlington, ON]

Okay, thank you for that. It's three members of all the opposition. I thought it was “official opposition”.