Evidence of meeting #1 for Canadian Heritage in the 43rd Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was motions.
A recording is available from Parliament.
4:15 p.m.
NDP
Heather McPherson NDP Edmonton Strathcona, AB
I'd like to suggest an amendment.
I would like to include two members of the opposition and two members of the government.
4:15 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Scott Simms
Is there any discussion on the proposed amendment by Ms. McPherson?
(Amendment agreed to)
(Motion as amended agreed to [See Minutes of Proceedings])
Go ahead, Mr. Louis.
4:15 p.m.
Liberal
Tim Louis Liberal Kitchener—Conestoga, ON
Thank you, sir.
Regarding the time for opening remarks and questioning of witnesses, I move “That witnesses be given five 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. For the second and subsequent rounds, the order and time for questioning would 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; and New Democratic Party, two and a half minutes.”
4:15 p.m.
NDP
Heather McPherson NDP Edmonton Strathcona, AB
I promise this is my last one.
I would like to propose the following amendment: “That witnesses be given five minutes for their opening statements, and that, whenever possible, witnesses provide the committee with their opening statements 72 hours in advance; 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. For the second and subsequent rounds, the order and time for questioning would be as follows: Conservative Party, five minutes; Liberal Party, five minutes; Bloc Québécois, two and a half minutes; New Democratic, two and a half minutes; Conservative Party, five minutes; and Liberal Party, five minutes.”
4:15 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Scott Simms
Thank you, Ms. McPherson.
Is there any discussion on the amendment?
(Amendment agreed to)
(Motion as amended agreed to [See Minutes of Proceedings])
Mr. Louis.
4:15 p.m.
Liberal
Tim Louis Liberal Kitchener—Conestoga, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
On document distribution, I move “That only the clerk of the committee be authorized to distribute documents to members of the committee and only when the documents are available in both official languages and that witnesses be advised accordingly.”
4:15 p.m.
Liberal
4:15 p.m.
Liberal
Tim Louis Liberal Kitchener—Conestoga, ON
The next one, Mr. Chair, is on 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.”
4:20 p.m.
Liberal
4:20 p.m.
Liberal
Tim Louis Liberal Kitchener—Conestoga, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
On the travel, accommodation and living expenses of witnesses, I move “That, if requested, reasonable travel, accommodation and living expenses be reimbursed to witnesses not exceeding two representatives per organization; and that, in exceptional circumstances, payment for more representatives be made at the discretion of the chair.”
4:20 p.m.
Conservative
Kevin Waugh Conservative Saskatoon—Grasswood, SK
I have brought this up at every committee I've been on. Finally, because of COVID, we're doing more and more video conferencing, which, let's face it, we should have been using for years. Because of COVID and the restrictions on people coming to committee until COVID is lifted, I'm fine with video conferencing.
Sometimes I question. I've been in other committees, Mr. Chair, where we have two or three people. Two is fine. Sometimes we'd have as many as four from one organization flying into Ottawa to do a presentation, which was simply ridiculous.
COVID has answered a lot of my questions about cutting expenses in Ottawa. I'm sure we all agree that the day of meeting face to face, with people coming to Ottawa to give a presentation has long gone. We should use more Zoom, which we will certainly, it looks like, for the coming months.
That's all I have to say on that.
4:20 p.m.
Conservative
4:20 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Scott Simms
That's duly noted. We've been warned.
Okay. We'll move back to the motion.
(Motion agreed to)
Mr. Louis.
4:20 p.m.
Liberal
Tim Louis Liberal Kitchener—Conestoga, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
On access to 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 be allowed to be present.”
4:20 p.m.
Liberal
4:20 p.m.
Liberal
Tim Louis Liberal Kitchener—Conestoga, ON
Thank you, Chair.
On transcripts of in camera meetings, 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.”
4:20 p.m.
Liberal
4:20 p.m.
Liberal
Tim Louis Liberal Kitchener—Conestoga, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
On notices of motions, I move “That forty-eight (48) hours' notice be required for any substantive motion to be considered by the committee unless the substantive motion relates directly to business then under consideration; that the notice of motion be filed and distributed to members by the clerk in both official languages; and that completed motions that are received by 4:00 p.m. be distributed to members the same day” and “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 4:00 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 outside the Parliamentary Precinct, no substantive motions may be moved.”
4:20 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Scott Simms
Is there any discussion?
(Motion agreed to)
That brings to an end our routine motions.
October 14th, 2020 / 4:25 p.m.
Bloc
4:25 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Scott Simms
Okay.
Mr. Champoux, thank you.
I just noticed here, and this is one of the things I will have to get used to. I am reticent to jump right away to recognize people because we do have the “raise hand” function that I spoke of earlier.
According to the list, I have Mr. Housefather.
Then, it will be Mr. Champoux's turn.
Before I get into the motions, can I as chair just suggest one thing? I tend to be somewhat strict, as I was last time, about recognizing folks who wish to be recognized. I understand that you can unmute and you say your point of order, or any objection you may have or anything of that nature, to get my attention. I appreciate that, but can we just stop right there? I'd like to recognize people as they have asked to be given the floor.
Not only is this essential for the organization of this, but it is also essential for the people who are recording this. These are the people who do the blues, the Hansard people. It works so much better for them. It is so much easier for them if I am able to recognize who was about to speak.
I don't like the idea of free-flowing conversation because sometimes it gets very confusing. I suspect with this virtual reality in which we now exist that it might be just a little bit more confusing.
Thank you for your indulgence as I deal with that issue.
Go ahead, Mr. Housefather.
4:25 p.m.
Liberal
Anthony Housefather Liberal Mount Royal, QC
Before I begin, may I just ask a question? For the interpretation, do I have to switch between English and French, or can I just use “floor” now? Has that been fixed, or do I have to keep going back and forth between English and French?
