Evidence of meeting #9 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 meeting.

A recording is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

MPs speaking

Also speaking

Rick Bergmann  President of the Board of Directors, Canadian Pork Council
René Roy  First Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors, Canadian Pork Council
Marcel Groleau  Chair, Union des producteurs agricoles
Michel Daigle  Chair of the Board of Directors, National Cattle Feeders' Association
Janice Tranberg  President and Chief Executive Officer, National Cattle Feeders' Association

7:05 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Pat Finnigan

Did I hear two witnesses for seven minutes instead of 10? Is that what you suggested, Mr. Drouin?

7:05 p.m.

Bloc

Yves Perron Bloc Berthier—Maskinongé, QC

I have something to add to that proposal, Mr. Chair.

7:05 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Pat Finnigan

We're all ears, Mr. Perron.

7:05 p.m.

Bloc

Yves Perron Bloc Berthier—Maskinongé, QC

You brought up fairness, but it's hard to keep things fair when interpretation is involved. We are all reasonable people, and we understand that technical glitches can occur from time to time.

I suggest we adjust the amount of speaking time as well and that we follow this principle: if we start a round of questions, we finish it. That keeps things fair and respects member representation in the House. Even when Parliament is sitting in Ottawa, oftentimes, the Bloc Québécois and the NDP don't get an opportunity to ask questions during the second round. Earlier, when the minister was here, neither the Bloc Québécois nor the NDP had a chance to speak.

As for how speaking time could be adjusted, here are some random numbers. In the first round, everyone could get five minutes. In the second round, it would be four minutes. The amount of time during each round would decrease proportionally in order to finish each round. That would be a fairer way to do things.

7:05 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Pat Finnigan

With respect to the first round, we already determined the time allocated to questioners back when we started sitting. That's how it is. Reducing the time we give witnesses for their opening statements may give us more time to do two rounds. Keep in mind that, if we give the three witnesses 10 minutes each, we lose a half-hour right there.

7:10 p.m.

Bloc

Yves Perron Bloc Berthier—Maskinongé, QC

That's right.

7:10 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Pat Finnigan

We know that technical difficulties arise from time to time.

7:10 p.m.

Bloc

Yves Perron Bloc Berthier—Maskinongé, QC

I agree, Mr. Chair, but with all due respect, I'm certain that we'll never have enough time to finish the second round. We're going to wind up in a situation—

7:10 p.m.

Liberal

Francis Drouin Liberal Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON

It works fine in other committees, but again, it depends on the technical issues that come up, and we can't predict those.

7:10 p.m.

Bloc

Yves Perron Bloc Berthier—Maskinongé, QC

It's no one's fault. What we could do, though, is cut the time we give witnesses from 10 minutes to seven minutes, and reduce everyone's speaking time during the first round from six minutes to five minutes—I wouldn't exactly call that a huge loss. In the second round, we could go with four minutes, instead of five. The time allocated to the Bloc Québécois and the NDP would decrease proportionally. After all, the point isn't to get more time vis-à-vis other parties. It's simply to make sure that we get through the rounds and that everyone receives fair treatment. I would ask you to consider my suggestion.

7:10 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Pat Finnigan

The committee already adopted a motion giving all committee members six minutes during the first round. I think that's fair, but I understand what you're saying.

7:10 p.m.

Bloc

Yves Perron Bloc Berthier—Maskinongé, QC

If the committee doesn't want to change the first round, it can still change the second round.

7:10 p.m.

Liberal

Francis Drouin Liberal Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON

In the second round, the Liberals and the Conservatives have five minutes, while the NDP and the Bloc Québécois have two and a half minutes.

7:10 p.m.

Bloc

Yves Perron Bloc Berthier—Maskinongé, QC

That's right, but, if we knock off—

7:10 p.m.

Liberal

Francis Drouin Liberal Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON

We should have enough time.

7:10 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Pat Finnigan

We may need to shorten how long we give the witnesses, if we want to have enough time. Otherwise, we are left with only a half hour, and that's if we don't run into any issues.

7:10 p.m.

Bloc

Yves Perron Bloc Berthier—Maskinongé, QC

Let's try that. I would ask the committee members to keep it in mind, because it's a reasonable option. You said the committee had already decided, but nothing prevents us from making a different decision.

7:10 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Pat Finnigan

I don't want to spend too much longer on this, but what we need to decide tonight is whether we are postponing Tuesday's meeting with the witnesses that have already been invited and keeping the meeting with the minister on Friday as scheduled, or whether we are going to push the entire schedule because we can't meet on Tuesday. In other words, Tuesday's meeting would move to Friday and so forth.

7:10 p.m.

Conservative

John Barlow Conservative Foothills, AB

Mr. Chair, I would suggest that we don't try to reschedule the minister. If we have the minister booked for next Friday, I would suggest that we keep that meeting as is and try to reschedule those Tuesday witnesses to another day.

I don't know if there is another day next week that the Tuesday meeting can be moved to so that we can slot that into our schedule with the technology. My suggestion would be to leave next Friday as is with the minister. His schedule, I'm sure, is very chaotic. If we have him booked, I would suggest that we leave it at that and take those Tuesday witnesses and see if we can find another day to have that meeting.

7:10 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Pat Finnigan

Okay. Are there any other comments from the other parties?

Mr. MacGregor, do you want to weigh in on this?

7:10 p.m.

NDP

Alistair MacGregor NDP Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC

I'm good.

7:10 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Pat Finnigan

Mr. Perron, are you okay with postponing Tuesday's meeting and keeping to the schedule, as the others are suggesting?

7:10 p.m.

Bloc

Yves Perron Bloc Berthier—Maskinongé, QC

We could reschedule Tuesday's meeting next week.

7:10 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Pat Finnigan

I'll leave that to the clerk.

7:10 p.m.

Bloc

Yves Perron Bloc Berthier—Maskinongé, QC

Is it feasible to hold three meetings in one week?