Evidence of meeting #1 for Procedure and House Affairs in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was chair.
A recording is available from Parliament.
11:10 a.m.
The Clerk of the Committee Ms. Michelle Tittley
Honourable members of the committee, I see a quorum. We can now proceed to the election of the chair. I am ready to receive motions to that effect.
Mr. Lukiwski.
11:10 a.m.
Conservative
11:10 a.m.
The Clerk
It has been moved by Mr. Lukiwski that Mr. Preston be elected chair of the committee.
Are there any further motions?
Is it the pleasure of the committee to adopt the motion?
(Motion agreed to)
I declare the motion carried and Mr. Preston duly elected as chair of the committee.
Before inviting Mr. Preston to take the chair, I'll proceed to the election of the vice-chairs.
I am now prepared to receive motions for the position of first vice-chair.
Ms. Charlton.
11:10 a.m.
The Clerk
It has been moved by Ms. Charlton that Mr. Comartin be elected first vice-chair of the committee.
Are there any further motions?
Is it the pleasure of the committee to adopt the motion?
(Motion agreed to)
I declare the motion carried and Mr. Comartin duly elected first vice-chair.
I am now ready to receive a motion for the election of the second vice-chair.
Pursuant to Standing Order 106(2), the second vice-chair must be a member of an opposition party other than the official opposition party.
I am ready to receive motions.
Mr. Toone.
11:10 a.m.
The Clerk
It has been moved by Mr. Toone that Mr. Garneau be elected second vice-chair of the committee.
Is it the pleasure of the committee to adopt the motion?
(Motion agreed to)
I declare the motion carried and Mr. Garneau duly elected second vice-chair of the committee.
I now invite the Chair, Mr. Preston, to take the chair.
11:10 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Joe Preston
Thank you for your support. It has been a lot of fun chairing this committee in the past. I expect that this time it will be even more fun.
As a rule, this committee has worked through consensus, usually, and we will continue to try to work that way.
I welcome our new members this year, the many new members who were not with us last year.
Thank you very much.
With your indulgence, we'll move to the routine proceedings of this committee and have some discussion as to what rules we will work under as a committee.
You have two documents in front of you. One is called “Routine Motions of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs”. Those are the motions we used during the last Parliament. You have another one called “Principal Routine Motions”, which is a standard template of what routine motions may be used. I think we'll follow the one that's marked “Routine Motions” of procedure and House affairs from the last Parliament and either make changes to them or accept them as they are.
First is analyst services. We need to pass a motion to accept our analysts as supplied by the Library of Parliament.
It is moved by Mr. Kerr.
(Motion agreed to)
11:10 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Joe Preston
Boy, we get the best analysts by moving fast. That's great.
May I ask you to join us at the table, please?
The next motion on the list is on delegated authority to the whips. This committee does delegate authority to the whips of all of the parties to work on our behalf on the appointment of committees for the most part, so that we don't always have to meet to do it. That's the next routine motion. I think you have a copy of that exact motion with you.
Yes?
11:10 a.m.
NDP
Chris Charlton NDP Hamilton Mountain, ON
I note that the motion before us refers to “four Whips”. Should that now read “three Whips”?
11:10 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Joe Preston
On the delegated authority, it does say that “the three Whips be delegated”--
11:10 a.m.
NDP
Joe Comartin NDP Windsor—Tecumseh, ON
You're both wrong. It says “three” in the first sentence and then--
11:10 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Joe Preston
Ah, it does: it says “three” in the first and “four” in the second.
We're just covering all our bases.
11:10 a.m.
Some hon. members
Oh, oh!
11:10 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Joe Preston
You'll find we're pretty good at doing that here.
Thank you, Ms. Charlton. We'll make sure it says “three” in all spots.
Is there any discussion on that motion as quickly changed?
(Motion agreed to) [See Minutes of Proceedings]
Great. We've got that done.
The next motion concerns the subcommittee on private members’ business:
That, pursuant to Standing Order 91.1(1), the Subcommittee on Private Members' Business be composed of one (1) member from each recognized party and a Chair from the government party; and That Harold Albrecht be appointed Chair of the Subcommittee.
That was what we did last time, so I'm just reading.... I see that Harold's still here. We always want to grab on to experience when we can.
Mr. Lukiwski, your comments.
11:10 a.m.
Conservative
Tom Lukiwski Conservative Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre, SK
I would like to amend that, Chair. I would like to suggest that we have, in addition to the chair, two members from the government side.
11:10 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Joe Preston
Okay.
To that amendment, all in favour?
(Amendment agreed to)
Great.
Turning to the separate part, we now must appoint a chair for that.
Do I have any nominations for chair?
Mr. Lukiwski.
11:15 a.m.
Conservative
11:15 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Joe Preston
I thought I saw that coming.
Mr. Albrecht, you'd be happy to have your name stand, yes?
11:15 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Joe Preston
All in favour of Mr. Albrecht chairing the subcommittee on private members' business?
11:15 a.m.
Some hon. members
Agreed.
11:15 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Joe Preston
And now the motion.
(Motion as amended agreed to) [See Minutes of Proceedings]
That one's carried.
The next motion concerns the procedure on our agenda and procedure subcommittee, our steering committee, to talk about where we're headed:
That the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be composed of the Chair, the two Vice-Chairs, a member of the other opposition party and one government member.
Mr. Reid.
11:15 a.m.
Conservative
Scott Reid Conservative Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington, ON
I might be wrong, but I have a sense that this may come from the last Parliament. It says, “the Chair, the two Vice-Chairs, a member of the other opposition party”. I think that's referring to a situation in which we had more than two opposition parties in terms of status; I think that's right.
So could we strike that part?
