Status of Women Committee on Sept. 27th, 2012

[The Clerk of the Committee, Mrs. Marlene Sandoval]

Good morning.

Honourable members of the committee, I see a quorum.

I must inform members that the clerk of the committee can receive motions only for the election of the chair. The clerk cannot receive other types of motions and cannot entertain points of order nor participate in debate.

We can now proceed to the election of the chair.

Pursuant to Standing Order 106(2), the chair must be a member of the official opposition.

I am ready to receive motions for the election of the chair.

Mrs. Day, you have the floor.

[Anne-Marie Day, NDP, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Madam Clerk, I move that Marie-Claude Morin be elected chair of this committee.

[The Clerk]

It has been moved by Ms. Anne-Marie Day that Marie-Claude Morin be elected chair of the committee.

Are there any further motions?

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

(Motion agreed to)

I declare the motion carried and Marie-Claude Morin duly elected chair of the committee.

Before I invite Ms. Morin to take the chair, if the committee wishes, we will now proceed to the election of the vice-chairs.

Pursuant to Standing Order 106(2), the first vice-chair must be a member of the government party. I am now prepared to receive motions for the first vice-chair.

Go ahead, Madam Truppe.

[Susan Truppe, Conservative, London North Centre, ON]

I'd like to nominate Tilly O'Neill Gordon.

[The Clerk]

It has been moved by Ms. Truppe that Tilly O'Neill Gordon be elected as first vice-chair of the committee.

Are there any further motions?

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

(Motion agreed to)

I declare the motion carried and Tilly O'Neill Gordon duly elected first vice-chair of the committee.

Now we will proceed to the election of the second vice-chair.

Pursuant to Standing Order 106(2), the second vice-chair must be a member of an opposition party other than the official opposition.

I am now ready to receive motions for the election of the second vice-chair.

[Roxanne James, Conservative, Scarborough Centre, ON]

I'd like to nominate Judy Sgro.

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, York West, ON]

Thank you, Roxanne.

[The Clerk]

It has been moved by Ms. James that Judy Sgro be elected as second vice-chair of the committee.

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

(Motion agreed to)

I will now invite Madame Morin to the chair.

[The Chair, NDP, Marie-Claude Morin]

Good morning, everyone. I am pleased to be back in the chair in this session. Thank you for placing your trust in me.

I would also like to take this opportunity to welcome two new members on the committee. Welcome, Mr. Aspin. I would also like to welcome Ms. Hassainia in the official opposition. Congratulations. I am sure that we are going to have a great session and work well together.

Since we have elected the chair and the vice-chairs, I suggest that we now move to committee business, if the committee agrees, of course. That would give us an extra meeting. Is anyone opposed to that?

Ms. Freeman, the floor is yours.

[Mylène Freeman, NDP, Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel, QC]

Good morning, Madam Chair. Congratulations on being re-elected.

The NDP asks the committee to agree to see more witnesses during the study on sexual harassment in federally regulated workplaces. We have submitted three names to the clerk this week. In a nutshell, they are educators and it was quite difficult to reach them during the summer break.

[The Chair, NDP, Marie-Claude Morin]

Let me stop you right there, Ms. Freeman. The committee has not adopted an official list of witnesses yet. In addition, the members of the committee have to go over committee business before we move to the next step. I'm sorry.

[Mylène Freeman, NDP, Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel, QC]

Okay, I apologize.

[The Chair, NDP, Marie-Claude Morin]

That's okay. We are constantly learning the procedures.

[Mylène Freeman, NDP, Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel, QC]

Can we submit the names now?

[The Chair, NDP, Marie-Claude Morin]

We can discuss that when we study committee business.

[Mylène Freeman, NDP, Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel, QC]

We would simply have to change...

[The Chair, NDP, Marie-Claude Morin]

We often discuss committee business in camera.

[Mylène Freeman, NDP, Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel, QC]

Okay, I am sorry.

[The Chair, NDP, Marie-Claude Morin]

A lot of committees proceed to the election of the chair and do not move to study committee business. They prefer to adjourn the meeting. Before we continue with the study of committee business, I have to see if everyone agrees to proceed this way. We need the unanimous consent of the members of the committee to proceed to the study of committee business. Do you have any objections? Ms. Truppe, go ahead.

[Susan Truppe, Conservative, London North Centre, ON]

I think we have to go in camera, then, if we're doing committee business. Is that right? Yes.

[The Chair, NDP, Marie-Claude Morin]

We are going in camera.

[Proceedings continue in camera]