Agriculture Committee on March 10th, 2009

[The Chair, Conservative, Larry Miller]

Mr. Hoback.

[Randy Hoback, Conservative, Prince Albert, SK]

Just to build on that, Mr. Easter, you did have the opportunity a couple of weeks ago to ask the minister about this when he was here. I didn't see that come forward. You do have the opportunity in the House during question period to bring these questions forward. I have never seen a CWB question come forward from you in the House.

[Pierre Lemieux, Conservative, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

It's true.

[Randy Hoback, Conservative, Prince Albert, SK]

This is a big issue, and it's a very important issue. I don't think farmers want to see politics played with it, Mr. Easter.

So is this the right way to handle it? That would be my question.

[An hon. member]

It's a valid question.

[The Chair, Conservative, Larry Miller]

If there's no further debate, I'll--

Sorry, Mr. Easter.

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

I should be on your list.

[The Chair, Conservative, Larry Miller]

Okay.

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

This is not playing politics, folks. This is, in fact, trying to get to the bottom of the issue. I do want to comment on Pierre's point, the parliamentary secretary's point.

This is a crucial question with the new government, Mr. Chair. This is not the way previous governments operated.

This never happened previously, guys. If I call over to the department to ask for information from a bureaucrat from Agriculture Canada, where a lot of this stuff can be settled out, I get transferred to the minister's office. As an MP, I now am denied access to the Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food. Some of these folks that were before this committee as farm leaders are not denied that access. That's one of the new developments with this minister and this government. That's why this question has to be put here.

This question has to be put here because I cannot have the normal dialogue with a department that I as an MP should be able to have. As a farm leader, you would have more access. We're not offered any other alternatives. The fact of the matter is that on the questions to the minister when he was before committee, he came here and he gave us an hour. An hour is not enough. It should have been two hours. You couldn't raise the serious questions with him.

Mr. Chair, I call the question on this. We have no other way to go. I call the question.

[Pierre Lemieux, Conservative, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

I have more to add. You can't call the question, period, if there's more debate.

[The Chair, Conservative, Larry Miller]

Mr. Lemieux, and then Mr. Storseth.

[Pierre Lemieux, Conservative, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Just to respond to that, what I said was that Mr. Easter can contact the minister about his questions directed towards the minister. Question two: when did the minister first contact the CWB? That's a question for the minister to answer. Also, did the minister call upon the Auditor General? That's a question for the minister.

Mr. Easter is ingenuously mixing two issues: access to the department and access to the minister. His questions are aimed at the minister. It's appropriate that he would write a letter to the minister asking the minister to reply to questions directed towards the minister. I don't know where the department comes into this at all.

I go back to my original concern. If we all had questions we wanted to ask the minister and we tabled them here as motions, we'd never move on with important committee business like we're doing right now. I feel that we're wasting the committee's time, Chair.

[The Chair, Conservative, Larry Miller]

Okay. I'm asking Mr. Eyking to take the chair. I have to go.

[An hon. member]

Is this going to be brought to a vote?

[The Chair, Conservative, Larry Miller]

It's one o'clock, Mr. Easter, and I have to go.

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

Mr. Chair?

[The Chair, Conservative, Larry Miller]

Yes.

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

On a point of order, when we came in here today, we had witnesses. The parliamentary secretary came to me and said my motion would be dealt with.

[An hon. member]

It will be.

[The Chair, Conservative, Larry Miller]

It looks like it's going to be.

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

That's assumes you're in the chair.

You're in the chair. I'll tell you this: if the parliamentary secretary's word that he gave to me at the beginning of this meeting doesn't hold up, you're going to have trouble. I'm telling you that right now.

[The Chair, Conservative, Larry Miller]

I don't know what you two talked about beforehand, Mr. Easter.

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

The agreement was, Mr. Chair, at the last meeting, when the meeting closed, that you said this motion would be dealt with at the first of this meeting. I never challenged you on that because I did not want to take the committee's time while witnesses were here, based on the discussions I had with the parliamentary secretary.

[Pierre Lemieux, Conservative, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

Mr. Chair, he's questioning my integrity and I'd like to answer. Talk about flying off the handle. I told him that we would vote in support of his motion. We will vote in support of his motion. We haven't even arrived at the vote yet and we get a diatribe like that. We are wasting the committee's time. We're allowed to debate the motion. That's why we have MPs around the table, Mr. Easter, to debate motions. You can't just ram it through.

[Mark Eyking, Liberal, Sydney—Victoria, NS]

You're filibustering.