Procedure and House Affairs Committee on March 17th, 2011

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

Hear, hear!

[Terence Young, Conservative, Oakville, ON]

Face the voters.

(Motion agreed to: yeas 6; nays 5)

[The Chair, Conservative, Joe Preston]

Okay. I will suspend while we move in camera.

[Proceedings continue in camera]

[Public proceedings resume]

[The Chair, Conservative, Joe Preston]

We'll continue our meeting. We are now back in public. The first order of business is that Mr. McGuinty has a motion to present.

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

Mr. Chair, thank you very much for the opportunity to present a motion here this afternoon. I'm very pleased that all of the MPs at this committee voted unanimously to have this discussion and debate in public. Thank you also, Chair, for your indulgence in having--

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington, ON]

It's the second time.

[Terence Young, Conservative, Oakville, ON]

There's a BlackBerry buzzing.

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

Mr. Chair, could you get the other side under control so that I can move this motion?

[The Chair, Conservative, Joe Preston]

Let's please get to the moving of the motion, and then we'll get to the speaking list.

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

Thanks, sir.

I'm very pleased to move this motion today. Again, I'm very pleased to move it in public, given all the MPs here agree that this is an important public debate to be had in front of the media, in front of Canadians, so they can come to grips with where this committee is.

I will read the motion into the record first, Mr. Chair, to avoid any confusion. This is the motion that I propose and move immediately. Mr. Chairman, in order to provide direction to the library staff who will prepare the draft report, I move:

That the draft report be no longer than two pages in each official language;

That the draft report contain the conclusions of the committee, namely

(1) that the government has failed to produce all the specific documents ordered to be produced by the Standing Committee on Finance and by the House of Commons;

(2) that the government has not provided a reasonable excuse;

(3) that the documents tabled in the House and in Committee do not satisfy the orders for production of documents; nor do they provide a reasonable excuse;

(4) that this failure impedes the House in the performance of its functions; and

(5) that the government's failure to produce documents constitutes a contempt of Parliament;

That no summary of evidence be included in the draft report.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joe Preston]

Thank you, Mr. McGuinty.

I would make a ruling that this motion is out of order.

[Marcel Proulx, Liberal, Hull—Aylmer, QC]

Challenge the chair.

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

I would then, Chair, challenge your ruling on the question of the admissibility of this motion.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joe Preston]

We don't even want to know why I'm ruling it out of order; we just want to steamroll the chair. Is it okay if I make the ruling and tell you why?

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

I thought we had this debate earlier, Chair.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joe Preston]

That was in camera, Mr. McGuinty.

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

I see.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joe Preston]

We don't share that.

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

Okay. Then maybe you could help us understand why, sir.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joe Preston]

You're making a motion before the committee has studied evidence that it was given and you're presupposing the direction the committee will take in its final report. That would make the motion out of order.

Do I still have a challenge to the chair?

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

Yes, there is a challenge to the chair's ruling, sir.

[A voice]

Would you like to do a recorded vote?

[The Chair, Conservative, Joe Preston]

Sure, let's have a recorded vote.

[Marcel Proulx, Liberal, Hull—Aylmer, QC]

Is it a recorded vote?

[The Chair, Conservative, Joe Preston]

Yes, it's a recorded vote.