Evidence of meeting #1 for Subcommittee on International Human Rights in the 40th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was subcommittee.
A recording is available from Parliament.
1:10 p.m.
The Clerk of the Committee Mr. Roger Préfontaine
Order.
Honourable members, I see a quorum. Your first responsibility is to elect a chair. I am ready to receive motions to that effect.
Mr. Silva.
1:10 p.m.
Liberal
Mario Silva Liberal Davenport, ON
I would like to nominate Scott Reid as chair of the committee--if he accepts.
1:10 p.m.
The Clerk
It has been moved by Mr. Silva that Mr. Reid be elected chair of the committee.
There being no further motions, is it the pleasure of the committee to adopt the motion?
(Motion agreed to)
1:10 p.m.
The Clerk
Before we invite Mr. Reid to take the chair, we can now proceed to the election of vice-chairs, beginning with the first vice-chair of the committee.
Are there any motions to that effect?
1:10 p.m.
The Clerk
Moved by Mrs. Thaï Thi Lac that Mr. Silva be elected first vice-chair of the subcommittee.
Are there any other motions to that effect?
Is it the pleasure of the committee to adopt the motion?
(Motion agreed to)
We will now proceed to the election of the second vice-chair of the committee.
Mr. Silva.
1:10 p.m.
Liberal
1:10 p.m.
The Clerk
Mr. Silva proposes Madam Thi Lac as the second vice-chair of the committee.
Are there any other motions to that effect?
Is it the pleasure of the committee to adopt the motion?
(Motion agreed to)
At this stage I would like to invite Mr. Reid to take the chair. I offer him my congratulations.
1:10 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Scott Reid
Thank you.
Welcome, everybody, to our subcommittee.
The normal procedure on a committee or a subcommittee is that we move immediately, as the first order of business, to the adoption of routine motions. There are two ways of going about it. One is to go through the standard list and discuss the motions. As an alternative, our clerk has anticipated that since the membership is very similar to what it was before, there might be a willingness to adopt the same motions we had last time.
The clerk is now circulating those routine motions. I'll give you a moment to review them, and we can see whether they are acceptable to members of the committee.
Mr. Marston.
1:10 p.m.
NDP
1:10 p.m.
The Clerk
Mr. Marston, these motions have been taken from our minutes of proceedings. They're the ones that the subcommittee adopted in the second session of the 39th Parliament, the last session.
1:10 p.m.
Liberal
Mario Silva Liberal Davenport, ON
Mr. Chair, I would hope--I would encourage the committee, once again--that we continue in the same tradition we had in the past, to try always to work things out through consensus. Given the fact that the routine motions were adopted, I do believe, on consensus and without any problems, and if, as it looks like, they are exactly the same, then I would like to move that the routine motions be adopted.
1:10 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Scott Reid
I'll just give a moment for everybody to review the motions and then I'll ask if that's acceptable. One of our members is new to the committee and therefore deserves, in all fairness, the right to review the motions in detail.
It looks like the subcommittee has accepted the routine motions.
(Motions agreed to.)
1:10 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Scott Reid
The motions are adopted.
One of the motions involves the analysts, so I'd like to invite the analysts to join us at the table. I'm going to invite them to briefly introduce themselves to the members of the subcommittee.
1:10 p.m.
Robert Dufresne Committee Researcher
I was one of the analysts on the subcommittee in the last session of the 39th Parliament. I'll be the lead analyst with the committee this year.
My colleague is Melissa Radford.
1:15 p.m.
Melissa Radford Committee Researcher
I'm with the Library as well, assisting Robert as the analyst on this committee. I was previously on the Senate national defence committee and I moved over to the House side for the House foreign affairs committee and the House subcommittee on human rights.
It's nice to meet you.
1:15 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Scott Reid
I'm going to invite participation from the committee members in a moment. I've been advised that at least one and possibly two of the members may have suggestions for agenda items or motions to be discussed.
Before I do that, I wonder if I could ask our clerk to update us on business relevant to this subcommittee, which is being dealt with by the parent committee.
1:15 p.m.
The Clerk
Thank you, Chair. I was not expecting to do this.
This morning, as I was walking up to the Hill for another committee meeting, I was walking with the clerk of our parent committee, the foreign affairs committee. She informed me that yesterday the committee adopted a motion moved by the NDP member of the committee, Mr. Dewar, that the committee adopt three of their past reports. I think it is three, but I am not positively sure.
I know for a fact that one of those reports is our Omar Khadr report. There were possibly one or two others. I am not sure enough to relate to you what they were, but I can inform you that the committee readopted our report on Omar Khadr with the objective, of course, of tabling it in the House.
I would also like to inform the subcommittee members that in the report the subcommittee did not ask for a government response. According to the recent changes to the Standing Orders, this permits a member to move concurrence in the report in the House.
1:15 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Scott Reid
Thank you. While you were talking, Roger, Melissa indicated that she also serves on the parent committee and can provide some additional illumination as to what has gone on in the parent committee.
1:15 p.m.
Committee Researcher
In terms of the reports that are being retabled in the House, they are going to be the Canada and Afghanistan report, the Omar Khadr report, and also the report on social corporate responsibility. Those are the three reports that are going to be retabled to allow the government to respond to the recommendations.
1:15 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Scott Reid
Okay. At this time, I invite any members who have anything to say to do so. It is a good time to pop in.
Mr. Cotler, in all fairness, I think I saw your hand earlier.
1:15 p.m.
Liberal
Irwin Cotler Liberal Mount Royal, QC
I was only going to nominate each of the two vice-chairs who were otherwise nominated. That was what my hand was up for earlier. Now I can just congratulate them.
What I put up my hand for now is that I was wondering about the status before the foreign affairs committee of other resolutions or reports that we had adopted. In other words, what is the status with respect to our report on China? Also, we had hearings and adopted a resolution with regard to Iran, so I was wondering if we could have some understanding of that.
1:15 p.m.
The Clerk
What I would say to that, Mr. Cotler, is that all business was dissolved with the dissolution of the 39th Parliament. In other words, if the report was not acted upon in the 39th Parliament, it will not be acted upon unless the standing committee makes it its own, adduces it as evidence, in this Parliament, which is what they did with the three other reports. They take it from the last Parliament and adopt it in this Parliament, but our work in the 39th Parliament is dissolved.
