Status of Women Committee on May 11th, 2006

[Joy Smith, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

Well, I think that members should vote how they feel, but I will move my amendment and then everyone can have a vote on it. We can have a recorded vote to see who voted which way.

I'm going to move that motion four be amended by deleting the period and adding the following: “and that the quorum of the subcommittee consist of at least three members, one of which must be from the government”.

I'll move that. I'll do it that way, which comes kind of halfway, instead of completely deleting it.

Or maybe I'll redo that, and just say a motion for.... May I redo this?

I'm trying to be compromising here, but I guess I really feel we don't need the subcommittee.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Then why don't you just move the motion that we eliminate item number four?

[Joy Smith, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

All right, I'll do that, then. I move that we eliminate--

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

You have already moved it, so you have to--

[Joy Smith, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

I've already made the motion, so we have to carry it through.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Could the clerk read the motion, then, please?

[Joy Smith, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

Do you want me to read it again?

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Yes, please.

[Joy Smith, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

I move that motion four be amended by deleting the period and adding the following: “and that the quorum of the subcommittee consist of at least three members, one of which must be from the government”.

That kind of comes halfway. I have a copy of the motion, if you'd like it.

[A voice]

Are we talking about the subcommittee?

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

We're talking about the subcommittee on agenda and procedure.

Repeat it again, please, Ms. Smith.

[Joy Smith, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

All right. This kind of comes halfway, then. There's a copy of the motion, which my assistant is handing out to you now.

I move that motion four be amended by deleting the period and adding the following: “and that the quorum of the subcommittee consist of at least three members, one of which must be from the government”.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

That would leave out any representative from the Bloc. It says at least three.

[Joy Smith, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

Well, there are two chairs.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Yes, one is the NDP chair and one is the Liberal vice-chair. But what that would do is effectively leave out the Bloc from participating in that.

[Joy Smith, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

Excuse me. I can speak to that. No, it won't, because it comes after the period. It doesn't leave them off.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

It's pretty much the exact same thing we have here, except that the Bloc isn't going to have a seat at the table, specifically. It's their option.

Let's vote on the motion that the quorum of the subcommittee consist of at least three members, one of whom must be from the government.

[Joy Smith, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

Can I read the full thing? Then you'll get it, I think. I move that the subcommittee on agenda and procedure be composed of the chair, of two vice-chairs, and a member of the other opposition party.... And then it continues on. So that includes the Bloc. The Bloc will not lose the seat at all. So motion four will just be amended, and what that does is ensure that one member from the government will also be on that, whether it's me or somebody else. So that does ensure that the Bloc has a seat there.

I'll read it again to make it clear: “That the subcommittee on agenda and procedure be composed of the chair, two vice-chairs, and a member of the other opposition party.” And I am saying that motion four be amended by deleting the period and adding the following: “and that the quorum of the subcommittee consists of at least three members, one of whom must be from the government.”

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Ms. Neville.

[Anita Neville, Liberal, Winnipeg South Centre, MB]

I would welcome a friendly amendment that was specific and that cited the Bloc Québécois, as we did in the previous motion, where we identified Madame Brunelle. So I would suggest that “the two chairs and a member of the Bloc Québécois” be accepted as a friendly amendment.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Okay. We'll have to vote on Ms. Smith's amendment first.

[Maria Mourani, Bloc, Ahuntsic, QC]

Madam Chair, I've been asking to be recognized for some time now.

As I understand it, Ms. Brunelle is the former status of women critic. In my opinion, the reference should read in French “le ou la porte-parole en matière de condition féminine du Bloc québécois”. We could go with that or refer to “un membre du Bloc québécois”. Regardless, it's important to be accurate. If we don't specify which opposition member we're referring to, then the reference is open to different interpretations. For the sake of clarity, I would even indicate “la porte-parole ou le porte-parole du Bloc québécois.”

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

I suggest that we put it to a vote now.

Ms. Smith.

[Joy Smith, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

This is precisely why I was saying that I didn't think we needed a vice-chair, as long as everyone is included and no one is left out. So basically, through this motion, we can certainly amend it to be very specific about who needs to be on there so we have the representatives. So the subcommittee consists of at least three members, one of whom must be from the government.

Could the clerk please read it out, based on what the member from the Bloc has suggested and my amendment, before we actually vote on this, to be clear?

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Let me read this out and see if we have this straight:

That the subcommittee on agenda and procedure be composed of the chair, the two vice-chairs, and a representative from the Bloc, and that the quorum of the subcommittee consist of at least three members, one of whom must be from the government.

Does everybody understand what we're voting on?