Evidence of meeting #59 for Foreign Affairs and International Development in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was amendment.
A recording is available from Parliament.
12:40 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ali Ehsassi
No, we're just simply asking for unanimous consent to move to the next clause.
12:40 p.m.
Bloc
Stéphane Bergeron Bloc Montarville, QC
That's what I just said. We don't agree to moving to the next clause. We have to stay on this one.
12:40 p.m.
Bloc
Stéphane Bergeron Bloc Montarville, QC
Absolutely. Too bad, the government will have to live with its decision.
12:40 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ali Ehsassi
That's fine. You don't need to yell at me. It was the will of the committee and that's what was agreed to, but if you want to keep debating this subamendment, absolutely.
12:45 p.m.
Liberal
Rob Oliphant Liberal Don Valley West, ON
Mr. Chair, I think this is a point of order. It's that we will continue on clause 4 on the Broadcasting Act, and we're at the subamendment to the amendment.
12:45 p.m.
Liberal
12:45 p.m.
Liberal
12:45 p.m.
Liberal
Rob Oliphant Liberal Don Valley West, ON
I'm saying that we stay at the Broadcasting Act, at clause 4, and we're on the subamendment to the amendment.
If I seek unanimous consent to withdraw the amendment, does that then withdraw the subamendment, or do we need to first withdraw the subamendment, then withdraw the amendment, and then move towards entertaining another motion?
We will tell you that we will have to keep debating that because it is not yet finalized. We are still working out wording that we can get agreement on about how we essentially fix clause 4 on the Broadcasting Act.
I'm just looking for how we move this most expeditiously. We can see if we can withdraw the subamendment and then withdraw the amendment, but if we don't let it stand and move to cluster munitions, we're going to waste more time, because if we move to cluster munitions now, we may be able to get it done and give all parties time to figure out how we get an improvement to clause 4 that is more agreeable. This is my problem.
We can go back, as Mr. Bergeron wants, to the Broadcasting Act—we'll have to—but then we have to deal with the subamendment and the amendment and perhaps start wordsmithing an option three. However, I think some members have to go back to their spokespeople and work on this with their Heritage critics.
12:45 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ali Ehsassi
I've just been advised that if you want to do so, you have to bring a motion, a motion that is obviously debatable. Do you wish to bring in a motion?
12:45 p.m.
Liberal
12:45 p.m.
Liberal
12:45 p.m.
Liberal
12:45 p.m.
Liberal
Rob Oliphant Liberal Don Valley West, ON
I would then move a motion for the sake of time and to try to be more efficient. Because I have the floor, the first thing I'm going to move—
12:45 p.m.
Bloc
Stéphane Bergeron Bloc Montarville, QC
First, I don't think Mr. Oliphant is moving what you suggested. Furthermore, I think it's odd, to say the least, for a committee chair to make a suggestion regarding a motion to a member of the committee.
Second, Mr. Oliphant did not move what you suggested he move. He was proposing that the NDP subamendment be withdrawn by unanimous consent and that government amendment 2 be withdrawn by unanimous consent. If you don't mind, then, I would like us to first focus on Mr. Oliphant's motion to withdraw the NDP subamendment and then the government amendment. After that, we can talk about moving to the next clause.
12:45 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ali Ehsassi
He's not thinking of withdrawing it. This is a question of whether we could provide more time for everyone to come to an agreement on what is acceptable and then determine that it is within the scope. It's just a question of literally moving on to the next clause for consideration.
12:45 p.m.
Bloc
Stéphane Bergeron Bloc Montarville, QC
What Mr. Oliphant was proposing before you suggested he move a motion to go to the next clause—which is odd, to say the least—was withdrawing, by unanimous consent, the NDP subamendment and government amendment 2. For that amendment, the government challenged your decision. Let's talk about that first. Then we can discuss the possibility of moving to the next clause.
12:45 p.m.
Liberal
Rob Oliphant Liberal Don Valley West, ON
I have the floor, but I'll make a point of order, because there's a suggestion from Mr. Bergeron that I got my amendment from you, Mr. Chair. I didn't.
The reality is that the legislative clerk suggested what would have to happen to effectively move to the next section, because my real goal was to not waste committee time and to move to clause 5 on the Prohibiting Cluster Munitions Act. That would then mean that we'd have 10 minutes left and we could maybe get something done on munitions. The reality is that we're not going to get the Broadcasting Act part done now because we're going to have to speak to other critics about that.
That's what that was about. I believe the clerk advised the chair. The chair then advised how that could happen, without telling me what motion to make.
12:50 p.m.
Bloc
Stéphane Bergeron Bloc Montarville, QC
What I am trying to tell you, Mr. Oliphant, is that, if there is unanimous consent to withdraw the NDP subamendment and your amendment, we could move to the next clause by unanimous consent.
12:50 p.m.
Liberal
Rob Oliphant Liberal Don Valley West, ON
The problem with that is that if we withdraw the subamendment and the amendment, then we get to the main clause. It will be further amended and the amendment—