Evidence of meeting #1 for Citizenship and Immigration in the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was subcommittee.

A recording is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

MPs speaking

Also speaking

Clerk of the Committee  Mr. Addndrew Chaplin

3:35 p.m.

The Clerk of the Committee Mr. Addndrew Chaplin

Honourable members of the committee,

I see a quorum.

We can now proceed to the election of a chair. I'm ready to receive motions to that effect.

Mr. Bevilacqua.

3:35 p.m.

Liberal

Maurizio Bevilacqua Liberal Vaughan, ON

I'd like to nominate Mr. Tilson, based on his record--

3:35 p.m.

Liberal

Jim Karygiannis Liberal Scarborough—Agincourt, ON

And the silver fox hair?

3:35 p.m.

Liberal

Maurizio Bevilacqua Liberal Vaughan, ON

--and the great contribution he always got from this side. I'm sure he'll be very mindful of that when he's chairing the committee.

3:35 p.m.

The Clerk

It has been moved by Mr. Bevilacqua that Mr. Tilson be elected chair of the committee.

Are there any other motions?

The committee has heard the terms of the motion. Is it the pleasure of the committee to adopt the motion?

(Motion agreed to)

I declare the motion carried and Mr. Tilson the duly elected chair of the committee.

3:35 p.m.

Some hon. members

Hear, hear!

3:35 p.m.

The Clerk

Before asking Mr. Tilson to take the chair, I'm now prepared to receive motions for the post of first vice-chair of the committee.

Pursuant to Standing Order 106(2), the first vice-chair must be a member of the official opposition.

Mr. St-Cyr, you have the floor.

3:35 p.m.

Bloc

Thierry St-Cyr Bloc Jeanne-Le Ber, QC

I nominate Maurizio Bevilacqua.

3:35 p.m.

The Clerk

It has been moved by Mr. St-Cyr that Mr. Bevilacqua be elected as first vice-chair of the committee.

Are there any other motions?

3:35 p.m.

Conservative

Rick Dykstra Conservative St. Catharines, ON

For the sake of unanimity, it would be great if we could have a recorded vote for Mr. Bevilacqua.

3:35 p.m.

The Clerk

I suppose that's fairly straightforward.

Madam Chafe, would you call the roll?

(Motion agreed to: yeas 12; nays 0)

There being 12 yeas and no nays--

3:35 p.m.

Conservative

Rick Dykstra Conservative St. Catharines, ON

Well, ten yeas and two not-so-sures.

3:35 p.m.

Andrew Chaplin

--I declare Mr. Bevilacqua the duly elected first vice-chair of the committee.

We'll now proceed to the election of the second vice-chair of the committee,

who must be a member of an opposition party other than the official opposition.

Are there any motions?

Madam Wong.

3:35 p.m.

Conservative

Alice Wong Conservative Richmond, BC

I nominate Mr. St-Cyr for the second vice-chair.

3:35 p.m.

The Clerk

Are there any other motions to this effect?

The committee has heard the terms of the motion. Is it the pleasure of the committee to adopt the motion?

(Motion agreed to)

I declare the motion adopted and Mr. St-Cyr duly elected second vice-chair of the committee.

3:35 p.m.

Some hon. members

Hear, hear!

3:35 p.m.

The Clerk

I'd now ask Mr. Tilson to take the chair.

3:35 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative David Tilson

Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen. It's a pleasure to be here again.

I thank you, Mr. Bevilacqua, for your words.

Welcome, Mr. Coderre. I'm looking forward to your experience and wisdom that you've had in the past. We're a pretty good group here. I'm sure you'll enjoy yourself.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have to decide what to do. Before you are routine motions. On Wednesday, March 3, 2010, the House of Commons adopted the following order:

That, for all standing committees, routine motions in effect at the time of prorogation of the previous session be deemed to have been adopted in the current session, provided that committees be empowered to alter or rescind such motions as they deem appropriate.

Accordingly, the routine motions that were in effect at the time of prorogation are reinstated. The clerk will reflect the House order in the minutes of this meeting. The committee can, if it chooses, amend any of these motions.

Finally, for information purposes, the clerk has distributed a copy of the motions to all committee members. Indeed, I think those motions are before you. If there are changes wished, please speak now. Otherwise we will move on.

Mr. Karygiannis.

3:40 p.m.

Liberal

Jim Karygiannis Liberal Scarborough—Agincourt, ON

Could you explain, sir, from the first page, the reduced quorum? Did we have that in the past?

3:40 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative David Tilson

Yes, we've done that in this committee, actually, while I've been chair.

Is there anything else, ladies and gentlemen?

Okay. We'll move on.

We have to decide what to do, and I'm going to ask that the committee sit in camera to consider its future business.

Do we need a motion for that? I guess we do.

3:40 p.m.

NDP

Olivia Chow NDP Trinity—Spadina, ON

Is this for the subcommittee or the entire committee?

3:40 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative David Tilson

It's everybody. Otherwise Tuesday will be dead time.

3:40 p.m.

NDP

Olivia Chow NDP Trinity—Spadina, ON

Normally it's the subcommittee, Mr. Chair.

3:40 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative David Tilson

No, no, you're absolutely right, except then the committee has to approve it and we can end up having a problem on Tuesday, conceivably. I'm suggesting that the committee sit in camera to discuss future business.

You're absolutely right that normally it's the subcommittee, and I'm not moving away from that practice except on this occasion. Otherwise I'd be concerned that on Tuesday we may not do anything. That could happen.

Mr. Bevilacqua.

3:40 p.m.

Liberal

Maurizio Bevilacqua Liberal Vaughan, ON

Mr. Chair, I think the subcommittee will deal with that, unless there's an exception. For example, Tuesday, I understand, the minister may be coming?