Evidence of meeting #7 for Procedure and House Affairs in the 39th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was voters.
A recording is available from Parliament.
1 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Gary Goodyear
Colleagues, let's reconvene the meeting.
There are a couple of issues I want to mention to the committee members before we go forward, just as a reminder to the analysts and members. We have been requested by Monsieur Godin to find out how voting takes place in Morocco: are they required to unveil? We'll find that out.
We also had a request from Monsieur Proulx that a letter from the electoral....
I'm sorry. Mr. Reid.
1:05 p.m.
Conservative
Scott Reid Conservative Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington, ON
This is on a point of order, Mr. Chair.
I think that's actually a bit of a misstatement of what you were asked. My understanding is that what he was looking for was to find out whether you have to have voter ID. The point, I think, was to ask, is the purpose of unveiling to confirm your identity vis-à-vis a piece of voter ID?
1:05 p.m.
An hon. member
That's how I took it.
1:05 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Gary Goodyear
Thank you very much for the clarification. That's why I'm reading this out, so that we know what we do have to do.
Monsieur Proulx asked for a copy of any response from the Chief Electoral Officer to the minister's requests. Not much later, Madam Redman brought up the suggestion about bringing the Chief Electoral Officer in to discuss Bill C-6.
Would it be a smart idea to bring the Chief Electoral Officer in to deal specifically with Mr. Proulx's request as well as Madam Redman's request, as well as Bill C-18, if he has comments on it? We could have him here one time and deal with all three.
If no one objects to that, we will send the Chief Electoral Officer, then, a letter and give him notice of that.
We are still waiting for a letter from Monsieur Blanchet regarding Bill C-16. We haven't received it yet, so we will follow up on that.
This week, colleagues—I just want to remind members—tomorrow, on Wednesday, November 28, we have the subcommittee on the code of ethics meeting in room 112-N from 3:30 to 5 p.m. for the election of a chair and continuation of the committee's review of the code of ethics commissioner's report.
At five minutes to seven is an informal meet and greet with the Chief Electoral Officer, Monsieur Mayrand, at Elections Canada. All are invited to attend who can.
On Thursday from 11 to 11:45, we have two academics, Jon Pammett and David Docherty.
Scheduled from 11:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. is Chief Electoral Officer Jean Ouellet, from Saskatchewan.
Following that, there is also an informal meet and greet with Mary Dawson, who is the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner.
That brings us to a problem I'm going to ask my clerk to explain to members before we go into consideration of the report; it has to do with the ability to televise future meetings. There was some conversation yesterday at the steering committee about televising and when it would happen and what rooms are available.
We have priority, as this committee takes priority over other committees, and it would be up to the whips to determine whether we take precedence or priority over a televised room.
I'm going to ask Mr. Latimer to explain to committee members the difficulty with televised rooms. Then we'll move right into the report so that members can consider it.
Please, Mr. Latimer.
1:05 p.m.
The Clerk of the Committee Mr. James M. Latimer
There are three committee rooms that are equipped to televise. One is room 237-C in the Centre Block; there's room 253-D, the one we're in right now; and there's room 269 in the West Block. There are two television crews, so only two of those rooms can be televising at the same time.
How far do you want me to continue?
1:05 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Gary Goodyear
That's fair. The only thing I wanted to mention, if you could remind members, is that some of the committees....
We wanted to move on this additional meeting on Thursday, from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. The suggestion was, let's check the rooms, and then we'll add that time to the report. I'm going to ask Mr. Latimer to explain what times are available and not available and why, so that members can choose, since we have the whips here.
1:05 p.m.
The Clerk
Members will also remember that it's the whips who get together to decide on a certain rotational block system, whereby certain committees are supposed to meet at certain times. For example, in the slot from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays, the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs is one of the ones that has priority. Subcommittees are expected to be meeting, according to the whips' agreements, from 15:30 to 17:30.
I was asked to look into the availability of televising on Thursday, November 29, from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. I can advise members once again that two of the three rooms can be televising at the same time.
Currently, the Standing Committee on Environment is televising a minister's appearance. In 253-D, there are pre-budgetary consultations going on for the finance committee until six o'clock. Room 237-C has an official visit of the Prime Minister of Russia. So with regard to 3:30 to 5:30, there isn't a room available.
I was asked to look into 5:30 to 7:30.
The official visit of the Prime Minister of Russia is still going on until six o'clock in room 237-C. Finance, as I mentioned, is going until 6:30 with pre-budgetary consultations.
We could have the option of going to the West Block, to room 269, and we could televise there. It's up to the committee to determine whether they would accept going to the West Block.
1:10 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Gary Goodyear
And then the next was to find out, on the next available meeting...was it Monday or Tuesday?
You just spoke about Monday, I'm sorry.
1:10 p.m.
The Clerk
I should stay to Thursday for a moment.
Thursday, November 29. I was asked to look into the possibility of Procedure and House Affairs televising its meeting with the witnesses that the chair just mentioned, Mr. Chair. Once again, the Prime Minister of Russia takes up one room. Ethics is meeting in 253-D, in this room, and they are televising, and Canadian Heritage in 269 West Block is televising Minister Verner. So there is not an option for Procedure and House Affairs to televise at that point.
1:10 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Gary Goodyear
Just to make sure members are aware of what's happening here about our regularly scheduled meeting on Thursday, it's going to be very difficult to televise that meeting unless the whips get together and bump somebody.
And then of course this report from the committee, which everybody has and has read, has requested a meeting on Thursday, we thought 3:30 to 5:30 and then perhaps 5:30 to 7:30. It appears that neither of those time slots—unless the whips get together and bump somebody—is available for television.
If I'm not mistaken, to summarize it, the first available televised spot for the additional meetings with respect to the subcommittee's report will be December 4.
1:10 p.m.
The Clerk
It would be Tuesday, December 4, from 3:30 to 5:30. One of the rooms, this actual room, 253-D, I have managed to take. There's a minister, in Citizenship and Immigration, in the West Block, being televised at the same time, but we could have this room from 3:30 to 5:30.
1:10 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Gary Goodyear
Okay. That's all I wanted members to be aware of--some of the problems in the way of proceeding.
Now that you have that information in front of you, I am going to ask that the committee look at the subcommittee's report.
Is the report now officially tabled and we can begin discussions on it?
1:10 p.m.
The Clerk
We have presented it.
1:10 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Gary Goodyear
Yes, the report is tabled now, so we can begin discussions on it. It's particularly vague on two fronts.
Sorry, Mr. Preston, let's just begin discussion.
1:10 p.m.
Conservative
Joe Preston Conservative Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON
Great. I really didn't want to speak on the report; I wanted to ask a question about the televising. A couple of points were made there.
This committee has the ability to bump other committees out of televised rooms?
1:10 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Gary Goodyear
Well, yes and no. Obviously the whips are all on this committee, so the whips can get together and make decisions on their own.
1:10 p.m.
Conservative
Joe Preston Conservative Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON
That's my question. There are only really two meeting rooms available for televisation—is “televisation” a word?—at any time, so in order for it to happen we have to say we want it to happen, and we actually could tell other committees that they...is there a priority to Procedure and House Affairs that I don't know about?
Oh, it's not that it's Procedure and House Affairs; it's that we can do it that way. Okay.
1:10 p.m.
Conservative
Joe Preston Conservative Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON
So we would in fact be bumping other committees if we wanted to be televised, if we don't follow our standard schedule?
1:10 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Gary Goodyear
That's correct.
Obviously this committee, because it does have whips on it, is usually held in Centre Block because the whips are required to be here so often. So there are some conveniences that this committee is provided. It is one of the senior committees, and we obviously have the ability to bump other committees, but that's how it's done.
1:10 p.m.
A voice
Through the whips.
1:10 p.m.
Conservative
Joe Preston Conservative Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON
Mr. Chair, I might say, then, that rather than truly bumping other committees, we look at that later evening, that 5:30 to 7:30 timeframe, where we're not bumping other committees from televising.
1:10 p.m.
Conservative
Joe Preston Conservative Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON
Well, on any day, rather than taking over somebody else's time slot.