Evidence of meeting #1 for Agriculture and Agri-Food in the 39th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was chair.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Larry Miller Conservative Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, ON
I was just going to add that the only difference I really see, Pat, is that the services may be requested at the discretion of the chair. If something comes up, we don't actually have to have a meeting to have work done by them. To me, that's what seems to be the big change in it.
November 14th, 2007 / 3:45 p.m.
Conservative
NDP
Pat Martin NDP Winnipeg Centre, MB
I don't think I'm entirely comfortable with it. I don't see the need for the change. Most other committees I've sat on do fine with just the standard language of the routine motions that were circulated first. I'm not sure I'm comfortable that the chair can arbitrarily commission the Library of Parliament to undertake a body of work without consulting with the committee.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative James Bezan
There's a little bit of jumbling around, but the big addition here is “to assist the committee in its work”. That's added wording to the previous motion.
Mr. Steckle.
Liberal
Paul Steckle Liberal Huron—Bruce, ON
I feel similar to Pat in terms of when we say “These services may be requested at the discretion of the Chair”. If you want to use that language, then it should be “but not limited to”, because if we take it from what we had before, it was at the direction of the committee and including the chair. I think we were better to stay with what we had before rather than the new language, unless we add “but not limited to”, and I don't think--
Conservative
Conservative
The Chair Conservative James Bezan
That's the way it read before and that's the way it still reads in the new version. It's “at the discretion of the Chair”. When you were chair it was at the discretion of the chair.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative James Bezan
Yes. I'll read the motion from the last session:
That the Committee retain the services of one or more analysts from the Library of Parliament, as needed, to assist the Committee in its work. These services may be requested at the discretion of the Chair.
That's from May 4, 2006.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative James Bezan
The addition is “to assist the Committee in its work”. That's added wording. That's the only difference: “to assist the Committee in its work”. So it's directing....
Conservative
Larry Miller Conservative Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, ON
Instead of saying assist the committee's work it's saying assist the committee?
Conservative
Liberal
Liberal
Paul Steckle Liberal Huron—Bruce, ON
Like we had in the previous session. This is the proposal put forward by you people. I had no problem with this one as it was in the last session, but I'm saying--
Bloc
André Bellavance Bloc Richmond—Arthabaska, QC
As far as what was just proposed is concerned, you just told Paul that that was the way we operate.
Bloc
André Bellavance Bloc Richmond—Arthabaska, QC
I'm sorry. Do you want us to consider all of the proposals on this sheet and comment on them?
Conservative
The Chair Conservative James Bezan
Yes, we need to pass these motions one at a time to establish the standing orders of the committee.
Bloc
André Bellavance Bloc Richmond—Arthabaska, QC
I see.
I'm also wondering about the first one. I don't know how things used to be, but it states that it's solely at the chair's discretion, whereas I thought it was up to the committee to decide.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative James Bezan
It's always been at the discretion of the chair. That's standard for all committees, all standing orders, and that's the one that's coming forward. The one that we passed in the last session said it's “at the discretion of the Chair”. That is not new language. Ultimately, it is the chair who works with the researchers and staff and the clerk to organize the work of the committee.
