Foreign Affairs Committee on Dec. 13th, 2006

[Bernard Patry, Liberal, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

What's not true--what I said?

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

You see, I'm being told by the legislative clerk that once an amendment has been carried, it's carried.

[Bernard Patry, Liberal, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

Yes, but you can come back.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

You can come back by unanimous consent.

[Bernard Patry, Liberal, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

No, because you accept something else. It's not by unanimous consent; I disagree with that.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

I'm going to call the question on clause 4.

[Peter Goldring, Conservative, Edmonton East, AB]

Have we a call for unanimous consent?

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

I do not have a motion that we go back and revisit the clause. I would need unanimous consent in order to do it. No one has even brought that motion.

[Bernard Patry, Liberal, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

I will.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

All right.

Mr. Patry has brought forward the motion that we go back and revisit clause 4 with regard to subclause 4(2). Do we have unanimous consent to do that?

[Some hon. members]

No.

[An hon. member]

Call the question.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

(Clause 4 as amended agreed to) [See Minutes of Proceedings]

(On clause 5--Humanitarian assistance)

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

We will proceed to the next amendment, which is NDP-10.

Madam McDonough, clause 5.

[Alexa McDonough, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Mr. Chairman, this removes the funding of emergency humanitarian assistance from this bill's purview, and I think for obvious reasons. There already was recognition of the necessity to have maximum flexibility around dealing with emergency humanitarian crises.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

Thank you, Madam McDonough.

You've heard the argument. She moves her motion.

[Alexa McDonough, NDP, Halifax, NS]

I move that clause 5 be amended by replacing lines 32 and 33 on page 2 with the following:

This act does not apply in respect of funding or other assistance that is provided for the

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

All right.

Do we have anyone who wants to speak to this?

Mr. Goldring.

[Peter Goldring, Conservative, Edmonton East, AB]

If you're looking at what an emergency is, then you get into a debate on emergency, and poverty can be an emergency; it can be many different things. Is this going the other way on the entire issue of taking away the definitions of what it does or doesn't apply to? Because I would certainly think the poverty situation in Haiti is an emergency.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

Mr. McKay.

[John McKay, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood, ON]

An emergency is whatever the government says it is.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

So this gives the government, in your opinion—

[John McKay, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood, ON]

If the government thinks that poverty in Haiti is an emergency, it can use this as an opportunity to do so. If a tsunami comes along, it's obviously an emergency. If an earthquake comes along, obviously it's an emergency. The testimony was that they didn't want this act to restrict the ability of the government to respond to an emergency. That's why it's there.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

Okay, and are you supportive of this amendment?

[John McKay, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood, ON]

Yes.