Canadian Heritage Committee on May 11th, 2006

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

That raises a question. Are we going to stick to 48 hours per se or two sleeps? Sorry, but it's important.

[Maka Kotto, Bloc, Saint-Lambert, QC]

Mr. Chairman, I want to come back on the fact that nobody received these motions. I would ask for the committee's consent to ensure that committee members get them as soon as possible. It's not complicated.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Schellenberger]

I think if the committee is in favour, and with consent, we can deal with Mr. Kotto's motion.

[Jim Abbott, Conservative, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

No, I would like to have an opportunity to look at these and deal with them in due course.

[Luc Malo, Bloc, Verchères—Les Patriotes, QC]

Mr. Kotto's motions deal specifically with the fact that at the last meeting we decided that we would choose which subjects would be studied at this meeting between now and the time the House goes into its summer break. If we put the discussion off until next week, the committee will have wasted another day during this session.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

I have one problem. It's on motion 3. I don't know the ins and outs of what this committee is being asked to discuss, which is that we review a film festival's criteria and selection process. I don't know, is that for film, for whatever?

I am very concerned about using our committee to interfere with festival direction. Now, I'm not saying I'm against it. Is it possible to get some documentation, a bit of a backgrounder that I can read before our next meeting? I'd feel a lot more comfortable knowing a bit of the context before being plunged in.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Schellenberger]

Just one thing, if there's no consent, we can't proceed with the motion. There is no consent.

Yes, Mr. Malo.

[Luc Malo, Bloc, Verchères—Les Patriotes, QC]

As Mr. Bélanger seemed to suggest, we could make sure that after we hear from our witness next Tuesday, we establish the work of the committee until the summer break.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

In any case, it's possible that we will sit throughout the summer.

[Maka Kotto, Bloc, Saint-Lambert, QC]

I know that there is no unanimous consent as far as dealing with the motions is concerned. But I feel that we have followed the rules. The notices were sent out last Tuesday and today is May 11th. We even sent out the documents concerning the third motion which Mr. Angus alluded to. During the 38^th Parliament, I raised this subject on several occasions. I asked that Telefilm Canada officials appear before the committee and that they tell us about potential problems associated with their idea of creating a new festival in Montreal. As it turns out, my fears were well founded, since the whole thing was a disaster.

Telefilm Canada must be held accountable, since it is funded by the government, in other words, by taxpayers' money. It must also be accountable to the Department of Canadian Heritage. As a member of this committee, I have a right to know what actually happened, because we have barely received any explanations on that matter.

In Quebec, an independent public inquiry shed a bit of light on what happened with the SODEC, which is the Quebec equivalent of Telefilm Canada. That organization admitted that it made mistakes as far as the call for tenders was concerned. These people created a festival in Montreal which was dead on arrival. So as far as this matter is concerned, we have to do our homework in Ottawa. If the committee abdicates its responsibility, at least we will have done our duty.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Schellenberger]

Mr. Bélanger.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Is the May 5^th report you are referring to in your motion the one by Mr. Vaugeois and E pluribus unum?

[Maka Kotto, Bloc, Saint-Lambert, QC]

Mr. Vaugeois's report is the one on the SODEC. Telefilm Canada produced a report through its own services. The Telefilm report was made public two or three days after Mr. Vaugeois's report came out.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

I haven't seen that report yet. Are you talking about the report the minister received from Telefilm Canada and which was made public?

[Maka Kotto, Bloc, Saint-Lambert, QC]

Yes.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

We should perhaps distribute it.

[Maka Kotto, Bloc, Saint-Lambert, QC]

I believe the clerk has already received it. I've sent out all the necessary documentation.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Schellenberger]

It will be distributed.

If it's the will of the committee, these motions can be dealt with at the next meeting.

[Jim Abbott, Conservative, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

Well, actually, I think technically they have to be dealt with at the next meeting and that it's not a matter of the will of the committee, with due respect.

The second part, though, is that I think we would have to have an agreement—perhaps we could do that now—on how much time we would want with our witness and how much time would then be left over to deal with these motions. We have a two-hour meeting and all of us have schedules, so we're presuming that at 5:30 the meeting will conclude. Of course we want to deal with the motions. I think we have to come to an agreement now, if I might suggest. How long do we want to have the witness for? How long is it essential for the committee to have the witness in order to make a good judgment as to whether they would recommend him for the job?

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Schellenberger]

Mr. Kotto.

[Maka Kotto, Bloc, Saint-Lambert, QC]

If we act in good faith and do not play games to make up for a lost time or to waste time, so we can deal with these motions very quickly.

The first motion also allows us to do this, given the fact that the minister of Canadian Heritage intents to conduct her own study on CBC/Radio-Canada, which would not involve committee participation. We know what is at stake, and things can happen very quickly.

I think it is indeed a good idea to review the mandate, but I think that we should look at all the crown corporations which report to the Department of Canadian Heritage. This is something we could eventually do as well. It's up to us to work out a schedule, an agenda. We have experience based on what we did in previous parliaments. It's not complicated.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Schellenberger]

Mr. Angus.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

The question was, how long would we have for the motions and this person from Canada Council, right?

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Schellenberger]

Yes.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

We'd normally take, I'd say, an hour and a half. I think it should be fairly straightforward. That should leave us a good half hour for the motions.