Bill C-30 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) Committee on Jan. 29th, 2007

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Ajax—Pickering, ON]

On a practical matter, two of the times suggested coincide with the natural resources committee. They're at the same time. I don't know if any other members of the special legislative committee sit on natural resources, but that would present a problem. It sits on both Mondays and Wednesdays from three to five. I would imagine that natural resources and the environment would be the two most involved in this, so we would want to avoid overlapping those two committees wherever possible. It's my understanding that these times don't interfere with the environment committee, but they do with the natural resources committee.

[The Chair, Conservative, Laurie Hawn]

Mr. Cullen.

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Chair, I get the sense you're heading toward a resolution on this as a middle ground. I would never suggest you command us. So the notion put forward by Mr. Bigras for the four weeks--he's being lobbied right now, but I know he's determined in his views--is to then bring us into a subcommittee to work through the witnesses. Just to let the committee know, this is going to be the next suggestion I'll be making, to work ourselves through the witnesses. I would see it as a friendly amendment to my motion, so let's vote on this and get it done.

[The Chair, Conservative, Laurie Hawn]

Monsieur Bigras, did you have a quick comment?

[Bernard Bigras, Bloc, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

The issue Mr. Holland just raised is an interesting point, in that there should not be duplication of committee meetings. Clearly, the legislative committee cannot sit at the same time as the Standing Committee on the Environment and Sustainable Development. The clerk could clarify issues like the number of meetings, potential scheduling conflicts, etc. What is important for us today would be to determine, if possible, the dates of our first and last meetings.

Basically, we would have five weeks to consider the bill and hear from witnesses, then a two-week break to prepare amendments, and then when we resume we will proceed to clause-by-clause.

[The Chair, Conservative, Laurie Hawn]

I'm just going to ask the clerk to explain a couple of things so everybody is on the same wavelength with respect to scheduling.

[The Clerk]

Mr. Chair, just for the clarification of the committee, Standing Order 115 states that “Notwithstanding Standing Order 108(1)(a), no standing or standing joint committee shall sit at the same time as a legislative committee on a bill emanating from or principally affecting the same department or agency.” That was obviously drafted in a way to reduce conflicts and give priority to a legislative committee. So obviously the legislative committee has to decide whether or not it wants to sit at those times, and that would obviously preclude those standing committees from meeting. Right now the environment committee is principally affected, and that's reflected by the schedule, I believe, that Mr. Warawa presented us.

I did put together a list of times when it wouldn't conflict with either the natural resources committee or the transport committee, which sit in the same block, or the environment committee. I can read that out now for the committee, if that's your desire, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Conservative, Laurie Hawn]

Please do.

[The Clerk]

On Monday it's nine to eleven. Obviously there's no conflict there because no committees sit. On Monday evening, there are no conflicts from 5:30 until whatever time it decides on. On Tuesday it's from eleven to one.

[John Godfrey, Liberal, Don Valley West, ON]

There are no conflicts Monday afternoon at 3:30?

[The Clerk]

There are no conflicts at 5:30 until whatever time the committee decides to sit. From 3:30 to 5:30 there are conflicts. There is no conflict from 5:30 on.

On Tuesday there's no conflict from eleven until whenever, except when certain votes occur in the House. Obviously, the clerk remains flexible in terms of scheduling times. Members are free to come after the votes and that kind of thing, if you decide to have a meeting after votes. Wednesday, the only time without conflict is after 5:30. On Thursday, it would be the same as Tuesday, so from eleven until whenever the committee decides to sit. Obviously, Fridays remain open, but that's up to the committee.

[The Chair, Conservative, Laurie Hawn]

Did everybody get those numbers in your head?

[The Clerk]

So Monday, nine to eleven and after 5:30; Tuesday from eleven until whenever, precluding votes.

[Mark Warawa, Conservative, Langley, BC]

Tuesday, the environment committee meets from eleven to one.

[The Clerk]

So Tuesday it is from nine to eleven, and then from 3:30 on. Wednesday, it's from 5:30 on. Then Thursday, it's the same thing as Tuesday, so from nine to eleven and then from 3:30 on.

[The Chair, Conservative, Laurie Hawn]

Mr. Jean.

[Brian Jean, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Athabasca, AB]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

I just want to say how important this is to the government. First of all, we have the parliamentary secretary to Minister of the Environment. I am the parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Transportation, Infrastructure and Communities. And we have the Secretary of State for Agriculture here. It's very important, and it's the number one priority for this government, as far as the other issues go. That's why I'm prepared to sit anytime that's necessary. But I think we might be able to solve this by giving the clerk a mandate and a friendly amendment, if Mr. Cullen would be prepared to accept it.

From my perspective, I would be prepared to have an amendment whereby this committee would meet for no less than eleven hours per week, firstly, and that way we would be started on clause-by-clause no later than March 19, so that we could take this piece of legislation and do what Canadians want us to do, which is to make the air better for them to breathe.

[The Chair, Conservative, Laurie Hawn]

Okay, we'll come back to that in a second.

Mr. Manning.

[Fabian Manning, Conservative, Avalon, NL]

I'm just trying to nail down the schedule. When you look at it, we're going to have conflicts, if you're talking about the intensity of this committee. I think we're all going to experience conflicts with other committees and other meetings and our other duties here as members of the legislature. The bottom line is there are 168 hours in the week, and we're asked to devote eleven to this particular piece of legislation, which everybody deems to be of an urgent nature. So I think it's necessary that we get a schedule in place before we leave here today so at least we can schedule the rest of our daily activity here on the Hill for the next number of weeks. I'm fine with eleven hours a week, or whatever it takes to do this, but we need to nail down some times here.

[The Chair, Conservative, Laurie Hawn]

Mr. Cullen.

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Yes, we're working through this right now.

Just for clarity with the parliamentary calendar, Mr. Jean's suggestion—and I think I've hear something similar from Mr. Bigras—is that we have wrapped up with witnesses by March 19.

Or is it prior to that?

[Brian Jean, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Athabasca, AB]

We start clause-by-clause no later than March 19.

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

We start clause-by-clause on March 19.

Through you to the clerk, Chair, how many weeks of actual testimony does that give us?

[The Clerk]

That gives us 55 hours.

[The Chair, Conservative, Laurie Hawn]

It's five weeks, starting today.