Public Safety Committee on Nov. 13th, 2007

[The Clerk of the Committee, Mr. Roger Préfontaine]

Honourable members, I see a quorum.

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

Mr. MacKenzie.

[Dave MacKenzie, Conservative, Oxford, ON]

I nominate Mr. Breitkreuz.

[The Clerk]

It has been moved by Mr. MacKenzie that Mr. Breitkreuz be elected as chair of the committee.

Are there any further motions?

Is it the pleasure of the committee to adopt the motion?

(Motion agreed to)

[The Clerk]

I declare Mr. Breitkreuz duly elected chair of the committee.

Before inviting Mr. Breitkreuz to take the chair, if the committee wishes we will now proceed to the election of the vice-chairs.

I am ready to receive motions to this effect.

Mr. Dosanjh.

[Ujjal Dosanjh, Liberal, Vancouver South, BC]

I will nominate the Honourable Roy Cullen for vice-chair.

[Garry Breitkreuz, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

I'll second it.

[The Clerk]

It has been moved by Mr. Dosanjh that the Honourable Roy Cullen be elected as vice-chair.

Are there any further motions for the first vice-chair?

Is it the pleasure of the committee to adopt the motion?

(Motion agreed to)

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

The second vice-chair must be a member of an opposition party other than the official opposition.

Mr. Ménard.

[Serge Ménard, Bloc, Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC]

I move that Ms. Priddy be elected second vice-chair.

[The Clerk]

Mr. Ménard moves that Ms. Priddy be elected second vice-chair of the committee.

Are there any other motions?

Is it the pleasure of the committee to adopt the motion?

(Motion agreed to)

I declare Ms. Priddy duly elected second vice-chair of the committee.

I will now invite the chair, Mr. Breitkreuz, to take the chair.

[The Chair, Conservative, Garry Breitkreuz]

Thank you very much.

I would like to express my appreciation to the committee for the confidence you've displayed in allowing me again to chair this committee. I've enjoyed working with all of you.

I welcome those who are new to the committee. I think you'll find this is a committee that really focuses on the issues. We get a lot of work done, and I've appreciated chairing this committee. Again, thank you very much.

Some of you have suggested, although it's not on the agenda, that you would like to discuss.... It's not on the agenda, is it? No, it's not on the agenda; it's something we could do, if the committee so wishes.

Is it your pleasure to postpone the discussion of the routine motions and the passing of the same, or would you like to do it now? What is the feeling of the committee?

Mr. MacKenzie.

[Dave MacKenzie, Conservative, Oxford, ON]

We'd be prepared to move ahead, but we have some changes we would like to discuss with the committee. I'd be more than happy to hand out what those issues are. We could take a few minutes now, if you would like, or do it later. They're not significant changes, but they are changes that we would like to suggest to the committee.

[The Chair, Conservative, Garry Breitkreuz]

At the same time as Mr. MacKenzie is putting out his, could we give a copy of what we had previously agreed on to all the committee, so you can compare the two?

[Roy Cullen, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

Good idea.

[The Chair, Conservative, Garry Breitkreuz]

Could I get a copy of the ones from Mr. MacKenzie?

[Sue Barnes, Liberal, London West, ON]

How much are you changing, Dave?

[The Chair, Conservative, Garry Breitkreuz]

I'm just looking at it. Are you going to point out where the changes are, to save us—

[Sue Barnes, Liberal, London West, ON]

Are you doing this in every committee, or only ours?

[Dave MacKenzie, Conservative, Oxford, ON]

I think it's a suggestion with all of them, simply for consistency.

[The Chair, Conservative, Garry Breitkreuz]

Ms. Priddy, go ahead, please.

[Penny Priddy, NDP, Surrey North, BC]

Thank you.

While we're waiting for the others to be copied, might I ask a question? There were a number of items that I at least thought I could read from former minutes that were left not quite finished at the end of the last session, and I'm wondering if you could give me guidance as to the appropriate time to raise them.

[The Chair, Conservative, Garry Breitkreuz]

At the end of this meeting we can decide when we're going to discuss future business of the committee—

[Penny Priddy, NDP, Surrey North, BC]

And that would include unfinished business from the last session.

[The Chair, Conservative, Garry Breitkreuz]

Yes.

[Penny Priddy, NDP, Surrey North, BC]

Thank you.

Perhaps pictures of grandchildren could be shared, or storytelling, or....

[The Chair, Conservative, Garry Breitkreuz]

We're going to enjoy having you on this committee--very creative suggestions.