Foreign Affairs Committee on April 29th, 2008

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

Order, please.

We're going to proceed now with committee business, and we're going to go to Mr. Dewar.

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Chairman, I'd like to put forward a motion to ask the foreign affairs minister to come to committee. I'd ask for that motion to be dealt with first and then to deal with the motion if that is accepted.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

All right.

Mr. Obhrai.

[Deepak Obhrai, Conservative, Calgary East, AB]

Mr. Chair, I have put a motion that is far more important. It's the one where the Minister of Foreign Affairs is going to come based upon the Standing Order 81(4). He has to come in front of the committee before May 31 to talk on the estimates. That's already written into the Standing Orders. And the minister is very keen to come in front of us to talk about that.

I suggest that my motion, which is there, be moved first so we can meet the deadline of the Standing Orders for the estimates. At that time, should Mr. Dewar like to talk about his motion, he can address it. The main point is to have the Minister of Foreign Affairs come in front of the committee, and during the estimates members will have an opportunity to ask their questions of interest. We need to fulfill that.

You can't have the Minister of Foreign Affairs come here at every drop of a coin. Everybody wants to call him, as there are so many motions. Considering his own time--

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

One moment, Mr. Obhrai. We already have a motion on the floor.

Now, the reason I'm listening to Mr. Obhrai is that he is saying that the estimates--the timelines--make it time sensitive as well.

We can't move your motion forward now.

[Deepak Obhrai, Conservative, Calgary East, AB]

I am putting an argument against his motion by saying that this motion topples that, so when I'm talking, I would appreciate it if you would let me do it.

I'm saying to the committee, and hopefully there's some sense on the committee to do this.... The Minister of Foreign Affairs has to come in front of this committee. The Minister of Foreign Affairs will be here, and he does want to talk. We have to fulfill that requirement. Then I'm saying that Mr. Dewar can do whatever he wants with his little political game that he wants to play at that given time. He can ask those questions that he wants to of the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

But there are two things. It is not possible for the Minister of Foreign Affairs to come for everything. This is within that period of time. The Minister of Foreign Affairs may not be able to schedule an appearance with that motion, but the Standing Orders commit him to come by May 31. By May 31 he has to appear in front of the committee, by request. That is there. So he will come. He has to come.

I am saying--and the foreign affairs minister has indicated this to me very clearly--that he's very amicable to come in front of the committee. He wants to talk about issues, and he has nothing to hide. He is more than happy to come here.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

Okay, we'll go back to Mr. Dewar.

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[Deepak Obhrai, Conservative, Calgary East, AB]

I'm not finished.

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

I think I've been recognized by the chairman. Thank you.

[Deepak Obhrai, Conservative, Calgary East, AB]

But I am not finished.

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

I think Mr. Obhrai has actually provided all of us with the arguments for my motion--the need and the cooperation that we'll receive. I simply wanted to make sure that we could get to both my motion and Mr. Obhrai's, which I see follows mine. We can coordinate this in terms of calendars and schedules with the minister. These are two separate requests, but I think we need to at least pass the motion so that both of them can be considered. Notwithstanding the calendar concerns that Mr. Obhrai has put forward on the estimates--we all agree--we still have to pass the motion to bring these motions to the committee.

I think we are all interested in hearing from the Minister of Foreign Affairs, obviously on the estimates, but there is also expressed interest, as I'm putting forward in a motion, in recent concerns with the minister. We'll have a debate, I'm sure, about the motion, but we believe it's the role of the committee to have the minister here to talk about his role in Foreign Affairs. That's separate from the estimates process.

Actually, I'd like to get to the vote on bringing those two motions forward, both mine and Mr. Obhrai's, so that we could actually schedule the minister to appear before committee.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

Madame Barbot is up next. I'll let her speak, and then--

[Deepak Obhrai, Conservative, Calgary East, AB]

You cut me short.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

No, I didn't cut you short. I'll let you back on.

Madame Barbot.

[Vivian Barbot, Bloc, Papineau, QC]

I concur with Mr. Dewar. These are two completely different issues and the availability of the minister has nothing to do with the tabling of motions. So then, I would like us to deal with Mr. Dewar's motion.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

All right, let me just ask Mr. Dewar first. Because it sounds as if the minister is willing to come on the estimates, does this mean that if we submitted a request for both appearances, he could choose the estimates first? Are we limiting him to come on the estimates, based on his appearance for you first?

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

No, I won't get ahead of the game here. My motion has a date on it so that we can report back to the House. So no, it's about bringing him forward, and let's deal with the motion. Let's get to the vote and then we can decide that. I think the committee has to give him direction.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

On this point, let me tell you this. My intentions are that we will shut off committee business at 5:15. There are no votes after that. These are motions where there's unlimited debate, just so we're aware of that.

All right, Mr. Obhrai on a point of order.

[Deepak Obhrai, Conservative, Calgary East, AB]

Can I have confirmation from the clerk that this motion--talking about confidence in a minister from a committee--is in order to report it back to the House? Does that follow any standing orders? Is this in order or not?

[The Clerk of the Committee, Ms. Angela Crandall]

Sure, it's in order.

[Deepak Obhrai, Conservative, Calgary East, AB]

It's in order. Are you sure?

[The Clerk]

The committee reports on the mandate of the department. The minister is part of the department, and his performance is something the committee looks at. The committee is the master of its own decisions, so if it decides to report on something, then it can report on it.

[Deepak Obhrai, Conservative, Calgary East, AB]

All right. I'll carry on with my questions. Who's next in the speaking order?

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

Mr. Khan and Mr. Obhrai.