Ms. Keeper.
Evidence of meeting #2 for Indigenous and Northern Affairs in the 39th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was crowder.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #2 for Indigenous and Northern Affairs in the 39th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was crowder.
A recording is available from Parliament.
4:35 p.m.
Liberal
Tina Keeper Liberal Churchill, MB
I would like to propose a friendly amendment to her motion, and that would be to perhaps hear from.... If the reason for hearing from NWAC on their summit is to hear about native women's concerns around those priority issues, I think it would serve the committee well to hear from other women's councils, including the AFN women's council and maybe MNC—the Métis National Council—and ITK. It might be a fantastic meeting, because I know in my riding we don't have a member organization for NWAC, and I have a very large riding. I have been meeting with aboriginal women all year on women's issues.
I think it would make an excellent meeting to hear from other women's councils.
4:35 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Barry Devolin
I'll leave that on the table. I want to get some more comments first.
Mr. Bruinooge.
4:35 p.m.
Conservative
Rod Bruinooge Conservative Winnipeg South, MB
Mr. Chair, the government obviously would be happy to hear from NWAC on the very successful summit they had earlier this year. I had the pleasure of attending on behalf of the government, and we'd be happy to get a report. So this is something we'd support as well.
4:35 p.m.
Liberal
Nancy Karetak-Lindell Liberal Nunavut, NU
Simply to further comment on Tina's suggestion. What used to work quite well for us in previous committees was to set up a panel so that you're hearing from different people and not only one group. Once you start getting very selective on who's going to represent the aboriginal women in Canada, then you're excluding different groups that are not necessarily maybe feeling that they're represented only by NWAC. I'm not saying anything against NWAC, but we have Pauktuutit, which is an Inuit women's association. So if we maybe set up a panel with different groups, then we could get different perspectives at the same meeting.
4:35 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Barry Devolin
I'm going to kick it back to Ms. Crowder in a second, but basically what I'm hearing is that this motion be slightly amended to possibly read something like, “That the committee invite NWAC and other aboriginal women's groups to appear and report.“ Is that too generic, or do you want to actually identify them?
4:40 p.m.
NDP
Jean Crowder NDP Nanaimo—Cowichan, BC
I prefer to identify them. They would be the women's organizations that actually presented papers. That included the women of the Métis Nation, Pauktuutit, Inuit Women of Canada, the Native Women's Association of Canada, Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, the Assembly of First Nations, the Northwest Territories have a council, and the National Association of Friendship Centres. They all presented on women's issues at the conference.
I take Ms. Karetak-Lindell's point around a panel. That's worked very well when we've done it in other committees.
4:40 p.m.
Conservative
Rod Bruinooge Conservative Winnipeg South, MB
Mr. Chair, what is being suggested sounds like it would take more than one meeting. So in terms of the schedule, it is our suggestion—
You think it would take only one meeting?
4:40 p.m.
An hon. member
Yes.
4:40 p.m.
Liberal
Nancy Karetak-Lindell Liberal Nunavut, NU
It could be one hour for one panel, and one hour for another....
4:40 p.m.
Conservative
Brian Storseth Conservative Westlock—St. Paul, AB
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
The format is something we've utilized quite a bit in the transportation committee, when we had several groups we wanted to get through and to have some good, robust discussion. However, one thing I did find in that committee was that oftentimes it took a little bit of facilitation between the clerk and the chair to organize when all of the groups could come at a specific time.
I think Madame Crowder, Ms. Karetak-Lindell, and Ms. Keeper are absolutely right that we should try to have the maximum number of these organizations come at once and have the best discussions.
So perhaps we could leave it with the chair to try to get this list and to contact these groups to see if we can facilitate the best time. We should leave you with a little bit of leeway on that one.
4:40 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Barry Devolin
Right.
Just to summarize what I think I'm hearing, there's general support for the notion of bringing representatives from several groups who made presentations at the conference in June. Those were listed on the record by Ms. Crowder; I don't remember all of them off the top of my head. There's general support for setting aside one meeting; and in that meeting, depending on who is available and there, we would set up either one or two panels to create the environment for the best possible discussion.
There are two issues. One is scheduling. As of today, there are eight scheduled meetings between now and the Christmas break. Today is meeting one, which is almost over; and we're going to ask the Auditor General to be here for meeting two on Thursday. Next week, for meetings three and four, basically we'll be dealing with the estimates with staff on Tuesday and the minister on Thursday. The following week, on December 4 we would begin clause-by-clause consideration of Bill C-21. At this point, we haven't specifically set something up for Thursday, December 6, but if clause-by-clause is not complete, we would continue with it on the sixth. We have discussed dealing with the Naskapi issue on the 11th, and that would take us to our last meeting on Thursday the 13th.
And there was some discussion this morning that there's always the possibility at the very end of the session that it might be cut short by a day or two. If I were betting, I would bet against that, given this has been a pretty short fall already.
So I'm not sure we can recommend a specific date for this, but that it would be as soon as possible.
Mr. Storseth.
4:40 p.m.
Conservative
Brian Storseth Conservative Westlock—St. Paul, AB
We need some flexibility on that. I think we should leave it up to you, as I think you know what the wishes of the committee are, that we want to have this meeting and get it done.
Quite frankly, we could set a date right now, and if a couple of the groups can't make it, then you're going to have to come back and suggest something to us any way.
4:40 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Barry Devolin
I'd obviously be happy to leave it flexible. I think we understand.
Now, there's an issue with the budget. The clerk will contact these groups, to the best of her ability, and identify who will be able to make it, and will estimate the cost and bring a budget back to the committee at our next sitting on Thursday.
Is there any further discussion, or can we vote on this?
November 20th, 2007 / 4:45 p.m.
Conservative
4:45 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Barry Devolin
Are we all in agreement with this motion? There's a lot of love in this room.
(Motion agreed to) [See Minutes of Proceedings]
4:45 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Barry Devolin
That's all the business I have on my agenda.
Pardon me, there is one more issue. Over the past few weeks or months, there have been a few groups who have actually contacted the committee and requested an opportunity to appear before it.
Does everyone have this list?
4:45 p.m.
The Clerk
Yes.
4:45 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Barry Devolin
The First Nations Education Council, the Pacific Peoples' Partnership, and the Songhees First Nation.
I'm obviously back in the hands of the committee. I tend to think chronologically, so we're full from now until Christmas, I think. But I don't know, when we reconvene in January, whether there's a desire to deal with this.
Just before I go to Ms. Crowder, I would note that I also think there's a reasonable chance that we will be receiving more legislation before we rise for Christmas and possibly again early in the new year, which would be our priority.
Monsieur Lemay.
