Agriculture Committee on Feb. 3rd, 2016

[Bev Shipley, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

I'm a vice-chair. We have three chairs altogether. Ruth Ellen is the only one from the NDP. If for some reason something comes up so we can't be there, then the meeting doesn't go forward to set the agenda and to have that discussion. It's just about building some flexibility to make sure that we can move ahead, that's all.

[The Chair, Liberal, Pat Finnigan]

Okay.

I will read the motion again:

That the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be established and composed of the Chair, two Vice-Chairs and 2 members of the government

[Chris Warkentin, Conservative, Grande Prairie—Mackenzie, AB]

Mr. Chair—

[The Chair, Liberal, Pat Finnigan]

You want me to read it as amended. Okay. No?

[Chris Warkentin, Conservative, Grande Prairie—Mackenzie, AB]

May I propose this text? There is agreement here around the table for it. It is:

That the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be established and composed of the Chair, one (1) member from the Conservative Party, one (1) member from the New Democratic Party and two (2) members of the Liberal Party.

[The Chair, Liberal, Pat Finnigan]

Are we okay with that? Okay.

I will read it as amended: “That the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be established and composed of the chair, one member of the NDP, and two members of the Conservative Party”—

[Some hon. members]

One.

[The Chair, Liberal, Pat Finnigan]

Then it's one from the Conservative Party and two Liberals. Do we have that right?

[Francis Drouin, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

I think we do, Mr. Chair, yes.

[The Chair, Liberal, Pat Finnigan]

Are we all in agreement with that motion? Are there any contrary-minded?

As the first motion read, Mr. Shipley, as vice-chair you were part of that committee and you could have been replaced by another member.

[Chris Warkentin, Conservative, Grande Prairie—Mackenzie, AB]

We don't want that. We want this as it now reads. Most committees operate like that.

[The Chair, Liberal, Pat Finnigan]

Now it will have to be specified members from your party.

[Chris Warkentin, Conservative, Grande Prairie—Mackenzie, AB]

That's fine.

[Bev Shipley, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

So if I can't be here, I can designate someone else to be here.

[The Chair, Liberal, Pat Finnigan]

If you're not here, yes.

Are we all okay with that?

(Motion agreed to [See Minutes of Proceedings])

[The Chair, Liberal, Pat Finnigan]

We'll move on to number three.

Yes, Mr. Shipley.

[Bev Shipley, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

This is just a comment that I would leave open to the committee.

I think Ruth Ellen and I are the only ones around the table who've been here before. We've done the agenda subcommittee and so on and we've always had, I think, a good working committee.

One of the things we may think about as we get established is the idea of the committee meeting as a whole to look at the agenda. We found sometimes that after the subcommittee did their discussions for however long and came back to the committee, we went through the same thing again. Now, if it's not a really functional committee, I understand it would be more difficult, but....

At any rate, Mr. Chair, I'll just leave that to the committee members. It might be something to consider as we move forward. I think we will start to throw out ideas amongst ourselves, and at the end of the day there will be a discussion and a decision, and we will move forward on it. I've always found that getting the input of everyone is beneficial to the whole committee.

I suggest that you start this way, Mr. Chair, and maybe we can follow through with that, if folks think that might be an option.

[The Chair, Liberal, Pat Finnigan]

It's a good idea. We'll at least adopt these, and then we can, if everything—

[Lloyd Longfield, Liberal, Guelph, ON]

I think it's a really good idea to keep the whole committee idea. We have a fallback if it ends up not working out.

[The Chair, Liberal, Pat Finnigan]

Yes.

[Lloyd Longfield, Liberal, Guelph, ON]

It sounds reasonable.

[Francis Drouin, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

Mr. Shipley, do you mean that previously the subcommittee would meet and set the agenda, and then the agenda still had to be approved by the committee?

[Bev Shipley, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

Yes.

[Francis Drouin, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

So you're just trying to skip that step. You're saying if we can just—

[Bev Shipley, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

If there's agreement. I mean, we passed this, but in the last three or four years we just sort of agreed that we would have that discussion and come to a consensus around the table. Nothing's perfect, but for the most part it actually worked out pretty well.

Mr. Chair, I suggest that you start with this. Then we'll build some confidence around how we move forward and go from there, as long as we understand that we can be flexible.