Evidence of meeting #22 for Procedure and House Affairs in the 40th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was study.
A recording is available from Parliament.
11:45 a.m.
Bloc
11:45 a.m.
Chief Electoral Officer of Canada
I can't tell you that from memory; I'd have to consult the Commissioner of Elections Canada.
11:45 a.m.
Bloc
Michel Guimond Bloc Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC
Are there any cases before the courts? Ask him that.
11:45 a.m.
Chief Electoral Officer of Canada
I can get back to you on that, but I can't tell you from memory how many files are under review.
11:45 a.m.
Bloc
11:45 a.m.
Chief Electoral Officer of Canada
Yes, I'm going to prepare a report for you.
11:45 a.m.
Bloc
11:45 a.m.
Chief Electoral Officer of Canada
There may be others, but there's one that I'm aware of.
11:45 a.m.
Bloc
11:45 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Joe Preston
We're getting quite far afield on this. I would like to wrap up the referendum piece. I know it's nice to have the Chief Electoral Officer with us today, but I know he did not come prepared to speak on every matter under his area of expertise. Let's bring it back to the Referendum Act and decide what this committee will do on the Referendum Act.
11:45 a.m.
Bloc
Louis Plamondon Bloc Bas-Richelieu—Nicolet—Bécancour, QC
I addressed another subject because others before me had done the same and I thought we could take advantage of the Chief Electoral Officer's presence here.
11:45 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Joe Preston
As a chair with leniency, I allowed it to happen, and see what happens when I do? It may prevent me from doing it in the future.
Will the committee entertain a motion about doing a study on the Referendum Act, and if so, what form will that take?
Mr. Lukiwski.
11:45 a.m.
Conservative
Tom Lukiwski Conservative Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre, SK
I think we need to do a study, but I appreciate the comments from Monsieur Godin and Monsieur Guimond as to whether the government is going to put forward a legislative review and whether a study would in fact be a worthwhile exercise or just a make-work project.
I've already stated to Monsieur Godin that I would undertake to come back and give some indication to committee members on whether the government would like to see a study from this committee. I will do that at the earliest opportunity.
If you would like, Chair, I can relate the findings of my undertaking to you and you can communicate that with the other committee members.
11:45 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Joe Preston
Okay. Should we wait for that, or should we move forward and start assembling what witnesses we may want to see, or areas of study? I leave it to the committee's discretion. If we'd like to wait for a response from Mr. Lukiwski, then we could do that. If not, we could start our planning and wait for that response.
I'm glad it's unanimous.
11:45 a.m.
Some hon. members
Oh, oh!
11:45 a.m.
NDP
Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB
Mr. Chairman, in one way or another, we'll have to do it. I simply said it would be good to know whether the government would be ready to put it on the agenda and to table a bill. If we do all this work and summon witnesses just to be told by the government that this isn't a priority, we'd be just as well off doing it next spring. I don't think it will take Mr. Lukiwski a year to go and see how the government views the matter. We should have the answer next week.
11:50 a.m.
Conservative
Tom Lukiwski Conservative Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre, SK
I would think we'll have an answer at the latest by next week in terms of whether the government is planning to introduce any legislation or do a legislative review. At this point in time, as I already indicated, my sense is that there's nothing on a priority basis and it may not come for some time. That's why I'm suggesting, assuming I get information on this from the government, that it would be a worthwhile exercise for the committee to do a study.
I agree totally with Yvon. Let's not do a make-work study just because there's nothing else on the agenda. If we do a study and come through with some substantive recommendations for changes to the act, I think the government would find that very, very helpful. I'll just try to confirm that for the committee members before we entertain any thoughts of a study.
11:50 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Joe Preston
I would suggest to the committee that we wait for that answer until the meeting scheduled for this time next Tuesday. At that meeting, if the will is to move forward we would then give a certain amount of time to put together witness lists and different things in order to properly prepare for the study.
Is that the will of the committee?
11:50 a.m.
Some hon. members
Agreed.
11:50 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Joe Preston
Mr. Mayrand, should we walk down that path you'd be welcome to come back. We certainly would be asking you at some point to come back and give us your recommendations.
11:50 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Joe Preston
Anything else for today's committee?
No? Great, we'll see you next Tuesday.
The meeting is adjourned.