Evidence of meeting #1 for Finance in the 40th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was chair.
A recording is available from Parliament.
9:05 a.m.
The Clerk of the Committee Mr. Jean-François Pagé
Honourable members of the committee, I see a quorum.
We can now proceed to the election of the chair.
I am ready to receive motions for the position of Chair.
Pursuant to Standing Order 106(2), the chair must be a member of the government party.
Monsieur Pacetti.
9:05 a.m.
Liberal
Massimo Pacetti Liberal Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I would like to nominate Mr. James Rajotte for the Chair position.
9:05 a.m.
The Clerk
Are there any other motions?
It has been moved by Massimo Pacetti that James Rajotte be elected as chair of the committee.
Are there any other motions?
Is it the pleasure of the committee to adopt the motion?
(Motion agreed to)
9:05 a.m.
The Clerk
I declare Mr. Rajotte duly elected.
9:05 a.m.
Some hon. members
Hear, hear!
9:05 a.m.
The Clerk
I am now prepared to receive motions for first vice-chair.
In accordance with Standing Order 106(2), the first vice-chair must be a member of the Official Opposition.
9:05 a.m.
The Clerk
It has been moved by Mike Wallace that Massimo Pacetti be elected as first vice-chair of the committee.
Are there any further motions?
Is it the pleasure of the committee to adopt the motion?
(Motion agreed to)
9:05 a.m.
The Clerk
I declare Mr. Pacetti duly elected.
9:05 a.m.
Some hon. members
Hear, hear!
9:05 a.m.
The Clerk
I am now prepared to receive motions for second vice-chair.
In accordance with Standing Order 106(2), the second vice-chair must be member of an opposition party other than the Official Opposition.
Mr. Carrier.
9:05 a.m.
Bloc
9:05 a.m.
The Clerk
Are there any further motions?
Robert Carrier moves that Jean-Yves Laforest be elected second vice-chair of the committee.
Are there any other motions?
(Motion agreed to)
9:05 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative James Rajotte
Good morning, everyone. Thank you very much for my election as chair of this committee.
I want to congratulate the first and second vice-chairs and welcome everyone to the committee.
We will go right to routine motions. Just as a bit of background, I did chair the industry, science and technology committee in the last Parliament, a committee that I thought worked very well together. I will certainly endeavour to work with all of you to be as fair, objective, and unbiased as possible to make this committee function well.
Obviously, finance will receive a lot of attention with the economic conditions we're presently in, so I look forward to working with all of you on some serious and challenging issues.
I think we should get right to routine motions. I believe you all have a copy of them before you. My understanding is that these were the motions adopted by this committee within the last parliamentary session. Obviously, members can choose to adopt these or amend these as they wish. My recommendation is that we just go down the routine motions.
First of all, so we can have the analysts sit with us, there is the service of analysts from the Library of Parliament. Can I have someone move that motion?
Mr. Dechert.
(Motion agreed to)
9:05 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative James Rajotte
Secondly, we have the subcommittee on agenda and procedure: that the subcommittee on agenda and procedure be composed of the chair, two vice-chairs, and a member of the opposition party.
9:05 a.m.
A voice
The other opposition party.
9:05 a.m.
Conservative
9:05 a.m.
Conservative
Mike Wallace Conservative Burlington, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
First of all, given that I was on the committee last time, and with the issues facing the finance committee and the issues facing the whole country, my preference is that we deal with the subcommittee on agenda and procedure as a committee of the whole. That way we all have our say on where we go and who we have as witnesses. That is my first preference. I'm happy to hear what other members have to say about that.
If there is a need for a subcommittee—and I've just stated I'm not sure there is—I think we should make it a little bit simpler and have the subcommittee composed of the chair, our parliamentary secretary, and a member of each of the opposition parties. Everybody would be represented there. We would be represented by our parliamentary secretary.
I don't know how you want to handle this, Mr. Chair. I don't mind taking a vote on having committee of the whole first, and if that fails, that would be my second approach. That's based on my experience from being here the last number of years.
9:05 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative James Rajotte
Mr. Wallace is proposing that we do not require a subcommittee, that we handle future business within committee of the whole.
Mr. Pacetti.
9:05 a.m.
Liberal
Massimo Pacetti Liberal Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
In my experience, we haven't really used the subcommittee on agenda and procedure. I just don't like the idea of eliminating it, because there are times where the subcommittee is used because we have too many issues. It's just to have a smaller group so that we can reduce the number of ideas to a more manageable number so we can present them to the committee of the whole. In the last two years I think we had two or three meetings of the subcommittee, so I would not like to see it eliminated.
But I think this committee has always worked collegially and we present most of the ideas to the committee of the whole, and that's why it's worked quite well.
9:10 a.m.
Conservative
9:10 a.m.
NDP
Thomas Mulcair NDP Outremont, QC
Mr. Chair, we really see no reason not to strike a subcommittee at all. As the first vice-chair aptly said just now, if a problem arises, there is no reason why we can't work together if we have to. However, this is simply a matter of being efficient. It's easier to convene meetings of the subcommittee and all four parties are represented. We have to settle this matter fairly quickly. I don't see any reason not to strike a subcommittee. Historically, this committee has not encountered many procedural problems. I would much prefer striking this subcommittee because if a problem were to arise, we would still have the option of taking the matter to the main committee.
9:10 a.m.
Bloc
Jean-Yves Laforest Bloc Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC
I totally agree with Mr. Mulcair's and Mr. Pacetti's positions. I have nothing further to add, except to say that if we need this subcommittee, then we had better strike it right away. If there is no need for it to meet, then that's fine, but at least if we need it later and we haven't set it up, then it will be harder to do then. I think it would be better for us to vote against this motion.
Thank you.
