Status of Women Committee on Nov. 28th, 2007

[Patricia Davidson, Conservative, Sarnia—Lambton, ON]

I won't be here on Tuesday. I have another committee that day.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yasmin Ratansi]

She won't be here either.

That will be one meeting only, and we want two meetings. Tuesday, December 11 will be one meeting.

I need the committee's direction as to whether we leave it till January, when we come back.

[Some hon. members]

Yes.

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

I have no objection to that, if we want to hear the witnesses. You're leaving. However, I know that Ms. Demers introduced the motion. It would therefore be good for her to be here when the Court Challenges Program is discussed.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yasmin Ratansi]

Okay.

We also need a list of witnesses. We cannot have a study with one witness.

Ms. Minna.

[Maria Minna, Liberal, Beaches—East York, ON]

Madam Chair, I understand that we're all busy. I think when we decided that we would add a meeting here or there, we understood that there was always a possibility that not every member around the table would be able to be here, but they would have to have someone else....

There are four on this side and three there, so we all have, with the exception of the NDP, more than one individual here who could always share information with their other colleagues. So while Madam Demers is not here, I imagine that her colleagues certainly could brief her on what we did.

I'm sure if Madam Davidson can't chair, maybe Madam Mathyssen--I'm not sure if she's leaving as well for the IPU or not--could chair.

So we wouldn't have to miss. I don't understand. Not every single member that's here today has to be there also. Otherwise, we'll never do any work.

On Tuesday morning, I'm available, and then also on December 11. That would give us two meetings and we'd be done with it.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yasmin Ratansi]

Okay. We can all find our replacements.

Madam Minna, that's a good suggestion.

And could you supply names of witnesses? We said we wanted three for and three against. We need some against the court challenges program as well.

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

I would have liked Ms. Demers to be present because it was she who requested it.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yasmin Ratansi]

Do you have the names?

We need the witness.

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

I know that, but I have a little problem.

Ms. Demers asked that we discuss the Court Challenges Program, but she won't be here next week.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yasmin Ratansi]

We will do this at the second meeting.

[Nicole Demers, Bloc, Laval, QC]

Madam Chair, believe me, we can hold the meeting on Tuesday, December 4. If I'm not here, I will be on an airplane talking to you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yasmin Ratansi]

Thank you, madam.

[Nicole Demers, Bloc, Laval, QC]

We may be here until 1:00 p.m. Madam Chair, I also have names to forward to you for the witness list. We didn't send them this morning because we had to confirm the availability of certain witnesses that we did not reach last week, but that's done, and you will have those names.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yasmin Ratansi]

Wonderful. So it's agreed that we will have two meetings, one on December 4 and one on December 11, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. We will bring six witnesses for two meetings, or eight witnesses for two meetings, and we can then proceed and get this out of our way.

Agreed?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yasmin Ratansi]

Send your replacements if you have to.

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

On December 4, you may not be here, nor will Ms. Davidson. Ms. Mathyssen will therefore be Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yasmin Ratansi]

The clerk informs me that it is important to get the names of the witnesses, but choose the witnesses as well.

How many witnesses have we received so far?

[Clara Morgan, Committee Researcher]

We have four from Ms. Neville, and I have a list here.

[Lyne Casavant, Committee Researcher]

How many witnesses do you want to submit, Ms. Demers? Two?

[Nicole Demers, Bloc, Laval, QC]

Since we can't have any more time for the witnesses, I submitted the Femmes Autochtones du Québec and the CALAC, with the contact information.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yasmin Ratansi]

Here is what I have--the list--and if you could please listen to it carefully, it looks like there are lawyers, activists, and tax federations. I'm going to read out the list: Sharon McIvor, who is a first nations lawyer, and she's in British Columbia; Shelagh Day, Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action; Karen Busby, faculty of law, University of Manitoba; Mary Eberts, who is a well-known lawyer and equal rights expert, and she is in Toronto.

For minorities, the list is: the National Anti-Racism Council of Canada; the Native Women's Association of Canada; the Métis National Council of Canada; the Women's Legal Education and Action Fund; the Disabled Women's Network Canada; the National Association of Women and the Law; the Canadian Feminist Alliance For International Action; Canadian Tax Foundation; Kathleen Mahoney from the University of Calgary; and Colleen Shepherd, Faculty of Law, McGill University.

[The Clerk of the Committee, Ms. Danielle Bélisle]

And the two of Madame Demers.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yasmin Ratansi]

Ms. Neville.