Bill C-11 Committee on Feb. 14th, 2012

[The Chair, NDP, Glenn Thibeault]

Okay.

It's a motion and it's debatable, so is there any discussion?

Go ahead, Mr. Lake.

[Mike Lake, Conservative, Edmonton—Mill Woods—Beaumont, AB]

It's an interesting motion. Typically, when you hold a committee business meeting, there are times you might have a meeting that isn't public. Maybe the clerk could enlighten us on the types of meetings that are generally public and why committees might do that.

[The Chair, NDP, Glenn Thibeault]

Thank you, Mr. Lake.

[Mike Lake, Conservative, Edmonton—Mill Woods—Beaumont, AB]

Is there enlightenment on that question?

[The Chair, NDP, Glenn Thibeault]

One of the things I did as chair was to read as much as I could on my role and responsibilities. There's nothing that states that I have to call any meeting as in camera. I asked for clarification on that point, and every meeting can be public.

[Mike Lake, Conservative, Edmonton—Mill Woods—Beaumont, AB]

I didn't know this motion was going to come up. It's very unusual.

I don't think I've ever been a part of a study that didn't have at least a planning session at some point among MPs or didn't have an in camera meeting to do planning. I don't know if I'd want to necessarily tie the hands of the committee as we go forward. Certainly every meeting at which we hear witnesses is going to be in public, and when we do clause-by-clause consideration, that'll be in public, but I wouldn't want to tie the hands of the committee in a way that I've never ever seen a committee do before.

[The Chair, NDP, Glenn Thibeault]

Go ahead, Mr. Cash.

[Andrew Cash, NDP, Davenport, ON]

I think this is a reasonable motion, and I think Canadians would find it surprising to discover that we'd consider putting this committee in camera for key, important things. I think Canadians want to see this debate on the public record, and I think this motion is very reasonable.

[The Chair, NDP, Glenn Thibeault]

After Mr. Regan, Mr. Del Mastro was on the list. I apologize if I missed you.

Do you want to speak to this motion?

[Dean Del Mastro, Conservative, Peterborough, ON]

I'm hurt, Mr. Chairman.

[The Chair, NDP, Glenn Thibeault]

I can tell.

[Dean Del Mastro, Conservative, Peterborough, ON]

To echo what Mr. Lake said, to somehow pretend that we can look into a crystal ball and foresee that there would never be any call to move in camera for a consideration that members may feel is appropriate is, I think, impossible, so I would encourage members to not support this motion. It's simply restrictive. I think everyone on the committee understands that we want to have a public discussion with witnesses, obviously in public. I fully supported Mr. Regan's motion to have this committee televised so that we will be able to project what this committee is doing back to Canadians.

[The Chair, NDP, Glenn Thibeault]

I do think it's important to mention, too, that as a legislative committee, clause-by-clause consideration must be public. It's important to put that information out there.

Next I have Monsieur Dionne Labelle.

[Pierre Dionne Labelle, NDP, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Thank you.

If ever there was a bill worthy of public consideration, this is it. This bill deals with authors, products of a public nature, be they songs or plays. Everything it covers is public in nature.

I don't think we have anything to hide as far as these discussions are concerned. I hope the same goes for those on the other side. We must keep these debates public. I am going to vote in favour of the motion.

[The Chair, NDP, Glenn Thibeault]

Thank you, Mr. Dionne Labelle.

Go ahead, Mr. McColeman.

[Phil McColeman, Conservative, Brant, ON]

I pass.

[The Chair, NDP, Glenn Thibeault]

Seeing no other person on the list, I will call a recorded vote.

(Motion negatived: nays 7; yeas 5)

[Mike Lake, Conservative, Edmonton—Mill Woods—Beaumont, AB]

I'm thinking out loud because I didn't expect a motion like that, but maybe we can come to a compromise by saying that all meetings in which we hear from witnesses or consider the bill during clause-by-clause study be held in public.

This is the usual. I think that might be a way of bridging the gap there.

[The Chair, NDP, Glenn Thibeault]

I don't know if we need to add “clause-by-clause”, because that's already public.

[Mike Lake, Conservative, Edmonton—Mill Woods—Beaumont, AB]

Yes, it automatically has to be. I move, then, that any meeting in which the committee hears from witnesses be held in public.

[The Chair, NDP, Glenn Thibeault]

Is there consensus on that motion?

[Mike Lake, Conservative, Edmonton—Mill Woods—Beaumont, AB]

You might as well do a recorded vote just so--

[The Chair, NDP, Glenn Thibeault]

All right. We will have a recorded vote.

(Motion agreed to: yeas 12; nays 0)

[The Chair, NDP, Glenn Thibeault]

We were wrapping up routine proceedings.

Go ahead, Mr. Del Mastro.

[Dean Del Mastro, Conservative, Peterborough, ON]

This is not related to routine proceedings but is more as a matter of committee business, Mr. Chairman. I was simply going to seek agreement among committee members that we, as parties, would circulate witness lists to one aother by five o'clock tomorrow, if that's possible, so that we could come into Thursday's meeting with some understanding. I'm sure there will be some witnesses that the parties will jointly have on their lists. Doing that will allow us to have an informed discussion on Thursday morning.