Evidence of meeting #50 for Procedure and House Affairs in the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was chair.
A recording is available from Parliament.
3 p.m.
Professor Emeritus, Department of Political Studies, Queen's University, As an Individual
There is a saying--
3 p.m.
NDP
Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB
And the government has gone through this before with the Afghanistan documents.
3 p.m.
Professor Emeritus, Department of Political Studies, Queen's University, As an Individual
--in English that was Samuel Johnson's. He said about somebody being hung in England, a criminal, that the prospect of hanging in a fortnight concentrates the mind wonderfully. And it also produces documents for Parliament.
3 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Joe Preston
Thank you, Mr. Godin. I love the stories, but we are out of time.
Professor Franks, thank you very much for today.
3 p.m.
Professor Emeritus, Department of Political Studies, Queen's University, As an Individual
Thank you, sir.
3 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Joe Preston
I know we will see you again tomorrow, so thank you again. I'll excuse you.
Committee, we have a very short discussion to take place--I hope--and we'll go there now. I'll suspend for minute or two.
[Proceedings continue in camera]
[Public proceedings resume]
3:15 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Joe Preston
Order. We are, at the moment, in public, and we are, at the moment, trying to maintain order and have a peaceful discussion as to what the next steps are in the consideration of the report.
Go ahead, Madame DeBellefeuille.
3:15 p.m.
Bloc
Claude DeBellefeuille Bloc Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC
Mr. Chair, the translation was not done fast enough just now and I was not able to vote. I would have voted in favour of it being public.
I did not hear your warning, which would have allowed me to vote. They assumed that I wanted to vote against it being public. I was in favour of it being public. I find it disgraceful that an assumption was made about my vote because I did not hear the translation. I find it unacceptable.
3:15 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Joe Preston
The chair will take the blame for that. The chair sometimes gets ahead of himself on the translation piece, and did perhaps not leave enough time.
I asked the question, looked for hands, and saw none. If there had been some, I would have--
3:15 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Joe Preston
I'm in public, Mr. Brison, and if you'd like the chair, there's a way that could happen, I suppose, but that's going to take a whole bunch of different things to happen. Right now I'm chair.
3:15 p.m.
Liberal
3:15 p.m.
An hon. member
You didn't have a vote.
3:15 p.m.
Conservative
3:15 p.m.
NDP
Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB
A point of order, Mr. Chair. You said that there was a vote. You even apologized for moving to the vote too quickly. Some members had no access to the translation.
Will you show some respect for our country's two official languages? Mrs. DeBellefeuille did not have the chance to vote. In my case, I had the translation. We should meet in camera and make a decision once and for all. Mr. Chair, you took the trouble to apologize. We should meet in camera and hold the vote again.
3:15 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Joe Preston
Are you moving that we go back in camera?
I will take a vote as to whether it goes back in camera. It has been so moved.
3:15 p.m.
Conservative
Scott Reid Conservative Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington, ON
A vote to go in camera, if I'm not mistaken....
We've just had a remarkable accusation made by one of the members of the opposition. They have just moved a motion, Mr. Chair, that would have the effect of making it impossible for the analysts to actually effectively write an impartial report. They prejudged us. They said the report can only be two pages long. They said it must find us guilty. They tried to ram this through in private session--
3:15 p.m.
Conservative
Scott Reid Conservative Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington, ON
They've tried to do so in a situation that would have the effect of making it impossible for us to point out the abuse of processes taking place. It's--
3:15 p.m.
Conservative
Scott Reid Conservative Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington, ON
--absolutely outrageous, Mr. Chairman. I have never seen an abuse like this before in my entire career. It is absolutely astonishing, and it was based--
