Veterans Affairs Committee on Feb. 4th, 2014

[The Clerk of the Committee, Mr. Jean-François Pagé]

Honourable members of the committee, I see a quorum.

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

We may now elect the chair of the committee.

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

I am ready to receive motions for the chair.

Monsieur Galipeau.

[Royal Galipeau, Conservative, Ottawa—Orléans, ON]

Thank you very much, Mr. Clerk.

First of all, it's nice to see you again. You and I worked together 15 years ago, and I think the committee is being strengthened by the fact that you're here.

I want to thank members of this committee for the trust that they gave me in the last cycle. I want to thank Peter Stoffer for the good grace that he displayed in proposing my name as chair in those circumstances. I want to thank him for the good work that he did standing in as chair in my absence. I want to thank the whole committee for the good wishes that they sent me while I was away.

It looks like the committee is still in good standing, and it's with regret that I will not let my name stand for chair in this cycle. I don't think that the committee should have a part-time chair, and the risk is that if I am chair, I would be a part-time chair.

It is with pleasure and an honour that I propose the name of my predecessor, Greg Kerr. I hope you will remember that he did good work for this committee, and he will do so again.

[The Clerk]

Are there any further motions?

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

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Clerk]

(Motion agreed to)

[The Clerk]

I declare the motion carried and Mr. Kerr duly elected chair of the committee.

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

Monsieur Galipeau.

[Royal Galipeau, Conservative, Ottawa—Orléans, ON]

The fact that Mr. Stoffer did such a great job in the last cycle, and in view of the grace that he displayed for me personally, I would like, at least with a little bit of the same grace, to propose his name as vice-chair.

[The Clerk]

It has been moved by Mr. Galipeau that Mr. Stoffer be elected as vice-chair of the committee.

Are there other motions?

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

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Clerk]

(Motion agreed to)

I declare the motion carried and Mr. Stoffer the duly-elected first vice-chair of the committee.

[Royal Galipeau, Conservative, Ottawa—Orléans, ON]

The unanimity of this committee is amazing...for now.

[The Clerk]

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 ready to receive motions.

Mr. Galipeau, you have the floor.

[Royal Galipeau, Conservative, Ottawa—Orléans, ON]

I nominate the eminent and honourable Jim Karygiannis.

[The Clerk]

It has been moved by Mr. Galipeau that Mr. Karygiannis be elected second vice-chair of the committee.

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

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Clerk]

(Motion agreed to)

I declare the motion carried and Mr. Karygiannis duly elected second vice-chair of the committee.

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

While we're waiting for Greg to take the chair, Royal, I just want to say on behalf of our side, welcome back. It's good to see you back on your feet, and although circumstances don't dictate you can become the chair, we thought that for the time you were here you did a very admirable and nice job of handling the chair. Even with the differences and everything that's going on, I thought you did a very good job for us. It's good to see you back on your feet, sir, and may God bless you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Greg Kerr]

I'm going to be very brief and then we're going to adjourn for the day.

Royal, I want to thank you for all you did. I know you have a tough challenge ahead of you, and we're all with you. Thanks again.

Just a quick comment, please, and then we'll see where we go from here. I know we're going to have a business meeting on Thursday, and that's fine. I just want to say I'm really pleased to be back. It has been a rough go for everybody the last week or 10 days, or whatever, and it does get a little hot upstairs.

What I was so pleased about, being part of this committee, is the sense of cooperation and commitment. We're all here for the veterans. There's lots of place in the public and lots of place upstairs to demonstrate our views, but here we try to bring some cohesion and unanimity to what we're doing. I look forward to that because I think this is the place where we can all work together to make things better for the veterans. I look forward to working with you in that regard.

Is there any business before we adjourn?

[Royal Galipeau, Conservative, Ottawa—Orléans, ON]

I just want to advise that we have an amazing clerk.

[The Chair, Conservative, Greg Kerr]

He's already told me he's amazing.

[Royal Galipeau, Conservative, Ottawa—Orléans, ON]

But I'm telling you. I dealt with him 15 years ago. He's first class.

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

Mr. Chairman, are we meeting on Thursday?

[The Chair, Conservative, Greg Kerr]

We're meeting Thursday as I understand it, same time, same place.

I want to ask the clerk why we're not meeting in 112. We used to go to 112 because it's the one that's set up for veterans. Remember the plaque? Would you like to go back there if we can?

Mr. Karygiannis.

[Jim Karygiannis, Liberal, Scarborough—Agincourt, ON]

I just want to wish my colleague from Orléans a speedy recovery and good luck.

We all missed you in the last go-round, and our prayers are with you and your family through these difficult times.

[The Chair, Conservative, Greg Kerr]

Hear, hear. Thank you very much for that, Jim.

Thank you very much. We'll see you all Thursday at 3:30 in 112.