Evidence of meeting #3 for Agriculture and Agri-Food in the 43rd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was amendment.
A recording is available from Parliament.
4:50 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Pat Finnigan
Okay. It has been moved by Mr. Ellis that we go ahead immediately with Mr. MacGregor's motion.
Are there any comments?
Yes, Mr. MacGregor.
4:50 p.m.
NDP
Alistair MacGregor NDP Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC
I mean, I'm looking forward to what the Conservatives have proposed, but we've had a decision on that matter. I think that getting something concrete and solid before the ministers.... I know how long committee meetings can drag out when we're in committee business and we're trying to get that report drafted. We've had experience in the past. I appreciate the motion's being moved, and I'll be in support.
4:50 p.m.
Liberal
4:50 p.m.
Liberal
Francis Drouin Liberal Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON
I tend to lend a hand to the other side as well, and I would leave that discretion to the chair and the clerk, but if for some reason you can't get witnesses to appear on a particular date specifically for BRM, after we've agreed on the witness lists, then obviously we don't want to waste committee time, so we can try to fill it.
I'm just checking to see how you want us to proceed. Should we still submit the witness lists for both studies? Again, it's just maximizing our committee time.
4:50 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Pat Finnigan
I believe that we would have to move Ms. Rood's motion, also, to be able to suggest witnesses. I stand to be corrected by the experts, but I believe we would have to have the motion.
Oh, okay, we've adopted the motion, so then we could entertain witnesses for that. The earlier we can get witness suggestions, the better it is. We could definitely do that.
Are there any other comments on the motion by Mr. Ellis to start the study on Mr. MacGregor's motion?
Yes, Mr. Lawrence.
4:50 p.m.
Conservative
Philip Lawrence Conservative Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON
Could we, as Francis has said, put in that motion...just the discretion, as the honourable member talked about, to call other witnesses with respect to the GHG motion as well? Is that fair?
4:50 p.m.
Liberal
Francis Drouin Liberal Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON
Priority one is BRM. Priority two is...the two motions we adopted. Normally we would leave that discretion to the chair for witnesses.
4:50 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Pat Finnigan
Mr. Philip Lawrence, did you want to make an amendment to the motion?
4:50 p.m.
Conservative
Philip Lawrence Conservative Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON
That's fine. I trust your discretion, Chair.
4:50 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Pat Finnigan
Are we all in favour of the priority, the first study being the study proposed by Mr. MacGregor?
(Motion agreed to)
Okay. We will start with that study. The other one has been approved, also. We will not waste any time.
At this time, we need to get some witness names in, for the clerk to be able to call them. It's up to you, but usually we start with government officials. They're right here in Ottawa most of the time, so we can quickly get them in for Thursday's meeting. It's up to you if you have other witnesses you'd like to see here. I'll take some direction.
4:50 p.m.
Liberal
Francis Drouin Liberal Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON
Perhaps, Mr. Chair, we could have the department appear on Thursday. Again, for some of us who are new, it's good to have a briefing. I'm sure they're going to have plenty to say on BRMs. It would probably be a good start, especially with a short notice for Thursday.
4:50 p.m.
Liberal
4:50 p.m.
Liberal
Francis Drouin Liberal Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON
We can probably ask.... It's for the questions that we ask. It's mostly us, not necessarily the officials. There are statements, and then the amount of time that we have to ask questions is not a lot. Just keep that in mind. So, two hours would be good.
4:50 p.m.
Liberal
4:50 p.m.
Bloc
Yves Perron Bloc Berthier—Maskinongé, QC
I would tend to agree. It would also allow us to give more reasonable notice to witnesses for the following week.
4:50 p.m.
Liberal
Kody Blois Liberal Kings—Hants, NS
We had representatives from the Nova Scotia Federation of Agriculture on the Hill this week. We talked about BRM specifically. Those individuals were scheduled to go home Thursday morning. I promised them that I would bring up the opportunity of whether or not they could come to speak to the BRM program. They certainly would have great insight to provide.
I put that to the committee. I know that usually it's perhaps the subcommittee or the liaisons who talk. But I would love to be able to see them while they're here, so we wouldn't have to fly them up from Nova Scotia—it saves costs—to just ask them to perhaps reschedule flights or leave Thursday evening. If they could be here, we could try to make that happen.
I'm looking to you, but maybe that's something we can do off-line.
4:55 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Pat Finnigan
It's up to the committee if you want to afford the federation some time as they are here. Would that be acceptable to the committee?
Would they be here for the afternoon, or do you want to try to...?
4:55 p.m.
Liberal
Kody Blois Liberal Kings—Hants, NS
Assuming we have room for these representatives of the Nova Scotia Federation of Agriculture, I would connect with them today and say that we have room for them on Thursday if they would reschedule their flight.
Ultimately, I would probably try to find a witness on the BRM program in the next six meetings that we're going to study this. Let's save a couple of thousand bucks. They're already here. We can just get them to reschedule their flights, perhaps, if we have a window on Thursday.
I don't know if we require extra time. Of those witnesses we plan to call, there are some from my province who are traditionally harder to get to Ottawa. We could have them if I know ahead of time.
4:55 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Pat Finnigan
You can maybe communicate back to us to make sure they can reschedule their flights.
4:55 p.m.
Liberal
Kody Blois Liberal Kings—Hants, NS
What I'll do is connect them, perhaps, to the clerk. Assuming we can get them on the schedule, we can see what's possible on their schedules.
I just see it as a good opportunity, given the fact that they're already here in Ottawa.
4:55 p.m.
Conservative
Lianne Rood Conservative Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON
I think that's a great idea since they're already in town. I'm all about saving money. But what I would propose is that we do the officials for the first hour, have the federation come for the second hour, and then defer officials for another hour maybe at the end of the study, after we've heard from other witnesses. We can hear from them again if we have other questions before we finish the study.
4:55 p.m.
Liberal
Kody Blois Liberal Kings—Hants, NS
Weren't there supposed to be two hours of government officials? Perhaps when I was talking I didn't realize.... I didn't know what our plan was prior to my raising that.
4:55 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Pat Finnigan
Sometimes it's one hour, sometimes....
Would there would be two on the panel?