Veterans Affairs Committee on March 27th, 2007

[Roger Valley, Liberal, Kenora, ON]

I don't have a problem with a couple of further meetings, with maybe three or four witnesses—specifically, somebody who has the same expertise as the last one did, but maybe a different point of view.

One of the things that concern me greatly is the amount of study we've put into this. Maybe that was just his opinion, but we need to find out from somebody else whether there's more we can be doing. It may be as simple as this committee getting to the point where we recommend to the minister that they include in the next budget that there be a component in Veterans Affairs that will help with studies. It could maybe be joint, around the world—whatever—but I think there's something we can do with it, so I think we need a little bit more time.

Maybe two meetings is enough.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Anders]

Do you think so?

[Roger Valley, Liberal, Kenora, ON]

I think it might be.

[Betty Hinton, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

As I said, I have no objection if we're going to go this way, and I don't think anyone on our side of the table has any objection, providing we stick with what Veterans Affairs Canada can do and don't go off on another tangent.

But I would ask, then, that if we do go in this direction there be some agreement amongst members here that we're not attacked in the House of Commons about not getting on with the health care review, when that's in fact what we're trying to do. And if you want to stop going forward with perhaps the VIP portion of it or anything else and study strictly the PTSD, that's again this committee's decision. But it would be very unfair to attack in the House about not moving forward on the health care review when we're trying very desperately to do that here.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Anders]

I've had a motion put forward by Mr. Valley. I've had an amendment put forward by Mrs. Hinton.

We can take votes on this stuff. Do you want to take votes on it?

[Brent St. Denis, Liberal, Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, ON]

We're okay with the friendly amendment. I consider that a friendly amendment.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Anders]

Okay. We can consider that friendly.

(Motion agreed to on division)

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Anders]

Okay, so we have that understanding.

Just to give everybody a sense of where this is all going, at the next meeting we'll be dealing with the Jeffersonian version of the veterans bill of rights, or whatever people choose to call it, with some parliamentary counsel. And then I think the next week after that we would be--

[Brent St. Denis, Liberal, Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, ON]

Two break weeks.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Anders]

Two break weeks? My goodness, all that time. What are you going to do with yourselves?

Okay. After that we will be moving ahead with some of this PTSD stuff for at least a couple of meetings.

And now, Mr. Stoffer, you have a notice of motion that you wish to put forward here.

[Peter Stoffer, NDP, Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS]

Yes. It's a rather friendly one.

When I was on the defence committee, we moved a motion there--because we were told we had to do it--to make Room 362 of the East Block the war room or the defence committee room. And I would like just for you to think about in the next two days that room 112 north of the Centre Block be designated the veterans affairs room.

If that happens, then you could put nice art up here on veterans issues. You, Mr. Chair, can put up a nice little plaque here with your name on it that says “this is designated here”, as David Pratt did in Room 362. It's a nice gesture, and that way everybody knows that this room is the veterans affairs room.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Anders]

That's a fascinating idea. That way smokers will always want to be in the veterans Affairs Room.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[Brent St. Denis, Liberal, Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, ON]

Mr. Chair, isn't there a bigger, grander room that we should hijack?

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Anders]

You think veterans deserve better?

[An hon. member]

This is for the smokers.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Anders]

Something to think about.

All right. We'll toss that around maybe next time.

I think that's it.

The meeting is adjourned.