Evidence of meeting #1 for Canadian Heritage in the 43rd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was chair.
A recording is available from Parliament.
3:45 p.m.
Liberal
Tim Louis Liberal Kitchener—Conestoga, ON
Regarding a subcommittee on agenda and procedure, I move:
That the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be established and be composed of five (5) members; the Chair, one Member from each Party; and that the subcommittee work in a spirit of collaboration.
3:45 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Scott Simms
Is there any further discussion on this?
(Motion agreed to)
We now go to Mr. Louis once more. Thank you.
3:45 p.m.
Liberal
Tim Louis Liberal Kitchener—Conestoga, ON
Regarding reduced quorum, I move:
That the Chair be authorized to hold meetings to receive evidence and to have that evidence printed when a quorum is not present, provided that at least four members are present, including one member of the opposition and one member of the government, but when travelling outside the Parliamentary Precinct that the meeting begin after 15 minutes, regardless of members present.
3:45 p.m.
Liberal
3:45 p.m.
Liberal
Tim Louis Liberal Kitchener—Conestoga, ON
Regarding the questioning of witnesses, I move:
That witnesses be given 10 minutes for their opening statement; that, at the discretion of the Chair, during the questioning of witnesses, in the first round, there be allocated six minutes for the first questioner of each party as follows: Conservative Party, Liberal Party, Bloc Québécois, New Democratic Party. That for the second and subsequent rounds, the order and time for questioning be as follows: Conservative Party, five minutes, Liberal Party, five minutes, Conservative Party, five minutes, Liberal Party, five minutes, Bloc Québécois, two and a half minutes, New Democratic Party, two and a half minutes.
3:50 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Scott Simms
Is there any further discussion on this?
(Motion agreed to)
Mr. Louis.
3:50 p.m.
Liberal
Tim Louis Liberal Kitchener—Conestoga, ON
Regarding document distribution, I move that the clerk of the committee be authorized to distribute documents to members of the committee only when the documents are available in both official languages and that witnesses be advised accordingly.
3:50 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Scott Simms
Is there any discussion?
(Motion agreed to)
Now, for some of you, this may prove to be the most important part of our deliberations.
Mr. Louis, I turn to you once more for this very important matter.
3:50 p.m.
Liberal
Tim Louis Liberal Kitchener—Conestoga, ON
Regarding working meals, I move:
That the clerk of the committee be authorized to make the necessary arrangements to provide working meals for the committee and its subcommittees.
3:50 p.m.
Liberal
Julie Dabrusin Liberal Toronto—Danforth, ON
Personally, I would like vegetarian meals to be provided for those who prefer them.
3:50 p.m.
Liberal
Julie Dabrusin Liberal Toronto—Danforth, ON
I don't know if it needs a formal amendment. I would just say, please, that it be duly noted.
3:50 p.m.
Liberal
3:50 p.m.
Liberal
Tim Louis Liberal Kitchener—Conestoga, ON
Regarding witnesses' expenses, I move:
That, if requested, reasonable travel, accommodation and living expenses be reimbursed to witnesses not exceeding two representatives per organization; provided that, in exceptional circumstances, payment for more representatives be made at the discretion of the Chair.
3:50 p.m.
Conservative
Kevin Waugh Conservative Saskatoon—Grasswood, SK
Chair, if I may, the House of Commons precinct spends hundreds of thousands of dollars for video equipment here. Most committees, for reasons unknown, don't use this. This is the 21st century and we are the heritage committee. I would encourage this committee and all other committees to use video conferencing.
I know that we have certain things for which we may need our guests to come here live, for delicate situations, but this is a set-up of $100,000-plus throughout the precinct and we're not using it like we should. I would like to see this committee use this and demonstrate leadership. We have the teleconferencing. I've been on many committees in the past and we don't use it enough. I would like us to use this more and have less bringing of guests here to committee.
3:50 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Scott Simms
Before I weigh in on that, does anybody else want to respond to the point made by Mr. Waugh?
Seeing none, you're correct. We have used a lot of it in the past. It is of high quality and it's been pretty good. I don't know if anyone with past experiences in video conferencing would say otherwise, but we have used it.
Would you like to move an amendment, or would you just like that for the record?
3:50 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Scott Simms
It is duly noted. I completely empathize with what you're saying.
(Motion agreed to)
Mr. Louis, go ahead once more.
3:50 p.m.
Liberal
Tim Louis Liberal Kitchener—Conestoga, ON
Regarding staff at in camera meetings, I move:
That, unless otherwise ordered, each committee member be allowed to have one staff member at an in camera meeting, and that one additional person from each House officer's office will be allowed to be present.
3:50 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Scott Simms
Is there any discussion?
(Motion agreed to)
Mr. Louis, go ahead once more.
3:50 p.m.
Liberal
Tim Louis Liberal Kitchener—Conestoga, ON
For in camera meeting transcripts, I move:
That one copy of the transcript of each in camera meeting be kept in the committee clerk's office for consultation by members of the committee or by their staff.
3:55 p.m.
Liberal
3:55 p.m.
Liberal
Tim Louis Liberal Kitchener—Conestoga, ON
Regarding notices of motions, I move that 48 hours' notice, interpreted as two nights, shall be required for any substantive motion to be considered by the committee, unless the substantive motion relates directly to business then under consideration, provided that (1) the notice be filed with the clerk of the committee no later than 4 p.m. from Monday to Friday, that (2) the motion be distributed to members in both official languages by the clerk on the same day the said notice was transmitted if it was received no later than the deadline hour, and that (3) notices received after the deadline hour or on non-business days be deemed to have been received during the next business day; and that when the committee is travelling on official business, no substantive motions may be moved.