Government Operations Committee on May 5th, 2009

[The Chair, Liberal, Derek Lee]

It's clear that I'm not going to be able to drive this bus today for whatever reasons are out there.

In the absence of concerted focus and leadership on this particular issue, we're going to adjourn our meeting. That may please some of you, but it may not please others. I don't propose to do anything that's going to waste members' time, but we're going to have to come back on this again. I'm sure all of you have your reasons, but I'm not going sit here in the middle of a pissing match over an adjournment. I need some clarity.

I'm willing to hear from the opposition. I'm willing to hear from the government. We only have two or three minutes left. The best procedure is simply to adjourn. Our next meeting will be on clause-by-clause of this particular bill.

If there isn't a point of order, I'm happy to adjourn.

[Rob Anders, Conservative, Calgary West, AB]

Mr. Chair, I did not hear a challenge of the chair. I accept the chair's ruling that we were in the first vote of the clause-by-clause on clause 1. I don't sense a challenge of the chair. I believe there are enough votes here to sustain it if there were a challenge of the chair.

I say we accept a vote on clause 1 and resume voting on clause 2 next time.

[The Chair, Liberal, Derek Lee]

I suppose we could deal with clause 1 and then come back another time and do the rest of the bill. That move might be seen by some as pyrrhic rather than substantive. I appreciate the point you make.

Yes, just a quick comment. We're running out of time.

[Serge Ménard, Bloc, Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC]

We've been talking for 10 minutes to determine whether we're going to request an opinion from the research service. We think we need that opinion. So are we requesting it?

[The Chair, Liberal, Derek Lee]

Monsieur Ménard, we had already agreed that research would develop a document for this purpose. At least, I determined that to be the conclusion of members. So that's moving ahead.

Are there any other quick points before we adjourn?

Mr. Harris.

[Jack Harris, NDP, St. John's East, NL]

My sense, from Mr. McTeague at least, is that implied a postponement of clause-by-clause discussion, and you moved into it before people had a chance to even absorb that fact.

Now, that's not a challenge to the chair; it's a statement of what I saw transpire in the last five minutes.

[The Chair, Liberal, Derek Lee]

Ms. Hall Findlay.

[Martha Hall Findlay, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

I'm not prepared to adjourn yet either, because I had suggested earlier to the chair that I was prepared to ask for consent to move another motion, and I asked for some time before the committee ended. We are now at one minute to one, so I would like to make that request to the chair. I did actually want to ask for consent to move a separate motion, but I recognize that time has not been allotted today.

Can the chair confirm whether or not I will be allowed to ask for consent to move this separate motion?

[The Chair, Liberal, Derek Lee]

Once the member has given notice, the member is free to raise that, really, at any reasonable subsequent time. So at the next meeting you would be quite in order to move the matter for which you've given notice.

[Martha Hall Findlay, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

My point was that I was able to ask for consent to move the motion today.

[The Chair, Liberal, Derek Lee]

You could ask, yes.

[Martha Hall Findlay, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

Do I understand that the chair is saying no to that now?

[The Chair, Liberal, Derek Lee]

No, no. You're always at liberty to ask consent of members to move a motion of that nature, and you could do it now. It's just that we are running out of time.

[Martha Hall Findlay, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

My only hesitation is that I don't think we've finished with this particular question of adjournment. I had wanted to raise this particular question before you formally adjourned the committee.

[The Chair, Liberal, Derek Lee]

Yes.

[Martha Hall Findlay, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

So if you would prefer to finish with this issue, then....

[The Chair, Liberal, Derek Lee]

This issue isn't going to finish.

[Martha Hall Findlay, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

Well, Mr. Chair, it is one o'clock.

[The Chair, Liberal, Derek Lee]

If there aren't any other important points here that have to be made, we will adjourn.

Mr. Clerk, is that viable, that the next meeting be on clause-by-clause? Who are we pre-empting at the next meeting?

We would be pre-empting the integrity commissioner and her estimates, but I don't think we have a choice at this point. So if that's all right with members, we'll come back to this matter on Thursday morning. We'll do clause-by-clause and any other related issues, and we'll postpone the integrity commissioner.

Ms. Hall Findlay has a motion she wants to put.

[Martha Hall Findlay, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

At this point, in consideration to all my committee colleagues, given that it's now past one o'clock, I will refrain from asking for consent to move this now. I will file it with the clerk for the 48-hour notice until next week. But I will point out that I had requested some time before the end of committee so that I could move this. Again, I will stress that out of consideration for my committee colleagues I will not do that right now. I will file it officially.

[The Chair, Liberal, Derek Lee]

Okay, that's fine. I hope you bring it up at the next meeting.

As there is no further business, we can adjourn.

The meeting is adjourned.