Evidence of meeting #2 for Procedure and House Affairs in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was witnesses.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
Bloc
Christine Normandin Bloc Saint-Jean, QC
Unless I'm mistaken, we were talking about the motion we put forward concerning the study of the 45th general election. We were talking about a Liberal amendment to strike out some of the text and add “and interpretation”. If I understand correctly, my colleagues may have discussed this amendment.
Liberal
Ben Carr Liberal Winnipeg South Centre, MB
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'm looking for unanimous consent from the committee to withdraw Ms. Kayabaga's amendment, which I understand was proposed at the last committee meeting. I'm here for her today, so I'm just looking for unanimous consent in order for that to happen.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Chris Bittle
(Amendment withdrawn)
We'll go back to the original motion that Madame Normandin moved.
Mr. Louis.
Liberal
Tim Louis Liberal Kitchener—Conestoga, ON
If I may, I will move an amendment that would [Technical difficulty—Editor].
Liberal
Tim Louis Liberal Kitchener—Conestoga, ON
I will read the amendment.
After “That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(3)(a)(vi), the committee undertake a study of the changes that need to be made in the implementation”, we would add “and interpretation”. The original motion then continues:
...of the electoral process and the application of the Canada Elections Act in order to prevent the failures and breaches that occurred during the 45th general election, and that this study include, but not be limited to, the incidents that have already been made public, provided that, in the order listed, the committee invite the following witnesses to testify for a period of two hours per block of witnesses—
We would make a second addition here of “for a total of 4 meetings”. The rest of the motion would remain the same. I'll continue to read it:
(a) representatives of each of the political parties who wish to speak on this subject;
(b) electors or representatives of elector groups;
(c) the Chief Executive Officer of Elections Canada—
I think we would change that to “the Chief Electoral Officer of Elections Canada”.
(d) any other witnesses the committee deems relevant;
That the committee report its observations and recommendations to the House.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Chris Bittle
Do you have an electronic version of that in both official languages, Mr. Louis? Okay.
We'll suspend for a couple of minutes to make sure that everyone has a copy of that.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Chris Bittle
The amendment has been sent to everyone. The changes are in bold. We are debating the amendment.
Mr. Louis, do you have anything further?
Liberal
Tim Louis Liberal Kitchener—Conestoga, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I see “Chief Electoral Officer” was fixed. I'm just making sure that those last changes were made.
It is as written. Thank you.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Chris Bittle
The debate is on the amendment.
I'll speak slowly to ensure that Madame Romanado gets a copy of that.
Is there anyone who wishes to speak to the amendment?
Mr. Van Popta.
Conservative
Tako Van Popta Conservative Langley Township—Fraser Heights, BC
Do we have this in print or...? All I have is just my mark up.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Chris Bittle
It's been sent to your email. If you would like a printed copy, we'll suspend and get you a printed copy—if that's your preference.
Conservative
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Chris Bittle
Excellent.
We will suspend for a couple of minutes and get printed copies for everyone.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Chris Bittle
We are back, and we are debating the amendment.
I'll mention that I think there's an understanding that the final line of the motion is “That the committee report its recommendations and observations to the House.” There was a typo.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Chris Bittle
Yes. Excellent.
Is there any debate on the amendment? I see none.
(Amendment agreed to)
Now we will move on to the motion as amended.
Is there no debate? That is excellent news.
(Motion as amended agreed to)
I see your hand up, but first I'll make sure I put this on the record. In terms of what we are going to do on Tuesday, if this is the will of the committee—obviously, it's the only matter before us right now, subject to what we're going to discuss—I need to know. The time is tight in terms of who we call. We will attempt to get the Chief Electoral Officer here on Tuesday, since that is directed by the motion. If there are other witnesses, we will need to have their names as soon as possible, remembering the headsets needed to ensure they can participate and the infrastructure required to get those witnesses ready in such a short period of time.
Madame Normandin, go ahead.
Bloc
Christine Normandin Bloc Saint-Jean, QC
I have two questions about that, Mr. Chair.
First, we're talking about a meeting next Tuesday. Technically, the parliamentary session will end on June 20. Are there any indications that no meeting will be held next Thursday?
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Chris Bittle
The House is sitting, as far as I know. Regarding what is discussed between the House leaders, you would have a much better understanding of that than I do. I am in the hands of this committee. I want to ensure that we are meeting on Tuesday and that we do have something prepared for Tuesday. Then, if not for Thursday, we can have something lined up when the House does return.
When I say to send your witnesses as soon as possible, that means now or very shortly after the meeting. I'm going to accept that the Chief Electoral Officer is the witness that is the preference; I see nods around the table. The first priority would be to get him. If he's not available, then provide those witnesses and we can make the effort to get people. Again, this is very short notice.
Madame Normandin, go ahead.
Bloc
Christine Normandin Bloc Saint-Jean, QC
The second point I would like to raise concerns witnesses. The way the motion is drafted, it already sets out the order in which we would like to invite witnesses. There's a reason for that.
Point (a) of the motion states, “representatives of each of the political parties who wish to speak on this subject”. Our reasoning behind that is to enable party representatives who may have witnessed certain things during the election to come talk about it. In addition, if Canadians witnessed certain things, they will also be able to come and testify. That may provide us with new information, and we may then want to hear from the Chief Electoral Officer.
The first witnesses we would like to hear from on Tuesday are the representatives of our parties. Since we're supposed to be relatively close to the representatives of our parties, I imagine we can invite them to testify on Tuesday.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Chris Bittle
Potentially. Unless the committee wishes to get down into this, I don't see (a), (b), (c) and (d) as a ranking of witnesses or a tiered list of witnesses. The Chief Electoral Officer, I imagine, will be here multiple times in our months on various studies, since that is a priority of this committee and under the jurisdiction of the committee.
In terms of closeness, we don't know. Again, we're asking people to appear and just being cognizant of the fact that it is June and that people do plan vacations and have to plan for taking care of kids or whatnot, or any of those items, so they may or may not be available. There's the fact that the witnesses you may seek are from Quebec and are close. They may wish to come down to Ottawa and can appear quickly. Please provide us with those names. We will endeavour to see those, but Mr. Melillo may know someone from Kenora who wishes to testify, and that may be a more difficult journey.
We will do our best. In my experience, when we're embarking on a study, we're not usually right up against the end of the session. We have time to work things in. I know that the clerk, who is a very experienced clerk, will do her best to get those witnesses, but please provide those names to us.
Madame Normandin.