Evidence of meeting #1 for Canadian Heritage in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was angus.
A recording is available from Parliament.
The Clerk of the Committee Ms. Christine Holke David
Honourable members of the committee, I see a quorum.
I must inform members that the clerk of the committee can only receive motions for the election of the chair. The clerk cannot receive other types of motions, entertain points of order, or participate in debate.
We can now proceed to the election of the chair.
Pursuant to Standing Order 106(2), the chair must be a member of the government party. I am ready to receive motions for the chair.
Mr. Angus.
The Clerk
It has been moved by Mr. Angus that Mr. Moore be elected chair of the committee.
Are there any further motions?
Is the pleasure of the committee to adopt the motion?
(Motion agreed to)
I declare the motion carried and Mr. Moore duly elected chair of the committee.
The Clerk
Before I invite Mr. Moore to take the chair, if the committee wishes, we will move to the election of the vice-chairs.
Pursuant to Standing Order 106(2), the first vice-chair must be a member of the official opposition.
I am now ready to receive motions for the position of first vice-chair.
Conservative
The Clerk
Moved by Mr. Armstrong that Mr. Angus be elected first vice-chair of the committee.
Are there any further motions?
Is it the pleasure of the committee to adopt the motion?
(Motion agreed to)
I declare the motion carried and Mr. Angus duly elected first vice-chair of the committee.
The Clerk
Pursuant to Standing Order 106(2), the second vice-chair must be a member of an opposition party other than the official opposition.
I am now prepared to receive a motion for the second vice-chair.
Mr. Angus.
The Clerk
It has been moved by Mr. Angus that Mr. Simms be elected second vice-chair of the committee.
Is it the pleasure of the committee to adopt the motion?
(Motion agreed to)
I declare the motion carried and Mr. Simms duly elected second vice-chair of the committee.
I now invite Mr. Moore to take the chair.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Rob Moore
Thank you all for your votes. I appreciate it. Congratulations to the vice-chair and second vice-chair as well.
I look forward to working with all of you in this 41st Parliament on the Standing Committee on Heritage. I know there's a lot of good work that is going to be done.
At this point, and with the committee's consent, we'll proceed to consideration of the routine motions. I believe the clerk has distributed a list already of the principal routine motions.
The first motion is to retain the services of analysts: that the committee retain, as needed and at the discretion of the chair, the services of one or more analysts from the Library of Parliament to assist it in its work.
(Motion agreed to)
At this time I want to introduce the analysts from the Library of Parliament, Michael Dewing and Marion Ménard. They will be assisting us in the capacity of analysts.
I also wish to thank the clerk for starting the meeting off. We look forward to working with you as well.
The next motion is on the subcommittee on agenda and procedure. Is there any discussion on that motion?
Mr. Calandra.
Conservative
Paul Calandra Conservative Oak Ridges—Markham, ON
Mr. Chair, I have an amendment to that, which I printed out. I can provide it to you, if you want to read it, or would you rather I read it?
Conservative
Paul Calandra Conservative Oak Ridges—Markham, ON
Okay, I'll read it and then we'll go from there:
That the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be composed of five members, including the chair, two vice-chairs, a parliamentary secretary, and a member of the Conservative Party; that quorum of the subcommittee shall consist of at least three members, including one member of the government and one member of the opposition; and that each member of the subcommittee shall be permitted to have one assistant attend any meetings of the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure; in addition, each party shall be permitted to have one staff member from a House officer attend any meeting.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Rob Moore
Do you want me to read it? Do you want Mr. Calandra to read it, or would you like the clerk to read it?
NDP
Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON
Mr. Moore, you are very careful in how you speak, so you'd probably speak a little slower. I'm a little slow at things; I sometimes need to write things out as people are talking.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Rob Moore
It says:
That the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be composed of five members, including the chair, the two vice-chairs, the parliamentary secretary, and a member of the Conservative Party; quorum of the subcommittee shall consist of at least three members, including one member of government and one member of the opposition; that each member of the subcommittee shall be permitted to have one assistant attend any meetings of the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure; in addition, each party shall be permitted to have one staff member from a House officer attend any meeting.
Mr. Angus.
NDP
Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON
The standard at committees has been the chair and the two vice-chairs. We don't have a problem with the parliamentary secretary, even though I think that is a change from past practice in the House of Commons; the parliamentary secretaries weren't on subcommittee. I don't see the need to add an extra member of the Conservative Party. The subcommittee is where we're going to discuss overall business. If there is an issue of a vote, it would come back here. The Conservatives already have a majority, so I don't think they need to worry about having an extra member to stack the subcommittee.
Conservative
Paul Calandra Conservative Oak Ridges—Markham, ON
Mr. Chair, the suggestion just reflects the current makeup of the committee. Of course we could always, as Mr. Angus said, come back to the full committee to debate anything. But it would allow us, in subcommittee, to reflect the makeup of the committee and set an agenda. Again, as Mr. Angus said, if we had dilemmas, we could come back to the full committee.
Liberal
Scott Simms Liberal Bonavista—Gander—Grand Falls—Windsor, NL
I don't remember this being a standard practice. Nonetheless, I agree with Charlie on this one. I don't think the extra member really makes that much difference. Certainly if a problem were to come out of a particular meeting, it would go back to full committee. Why would we stack the subcommittee for unnecessary reasons? I like the makeup. The presence of the parliamentary secretary is fine, but the extra member, I don't see the point.
