Evidence of meeting #1 for Canadian Heritage in the 44th 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.

On the agenda

MPs speaking

Also speaking

3:50 p.m.

Marion Ménard

Good afternoon.

My name is Marion Ménard, and I have been an analyst at the Library of Parliament since 2002.

Welcome to the members of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage.

3:50 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry

Thank you very much. It's nice to meet you. We will be depending on you a great deal.

Let's go to the next one, Tim.

3:50 p.m.

Liberal

Tim Louis Liberal Kitchener—Conestoga, ON

Thanks, Madam Chair.

The next motion is “Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure”. I move:

That the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be established and be composed of five members; the Chair, one member from each recognized party; and that the subcommittee work in a spirit of collaboration.

(Motion agreed to)

3:50 p.m.

Liberal

Tim Louis Liberal Kitchener—Conestoga, ON

The next motion is “Meeting Without a Quorum”. I move:

That the Chair be authorized to hold meetings to receive evidence and to have that evidence published when a quorum is not present, provided that at least four members are present, including two members of the opposition parties and two members of the government party, but when travelling outside the Parliamentary Precinct, that the meeting begin after 15 minutes, regardless of members present.

(Motion agreed to)

3:50 p.m.

Liberal

Tim Louis Liberal Kitchener—Conestoga, ON

The next motion is “Time for Opening Remarks and Questioning of Witnesses”. I move:

That witnesses be given five minutes for their opening statement; that whenever possible, witnesses provide the committee with their opening statement 72 hours in advance; that at the discretion of the Chair, during the questioning of witnesses, there be allocated six minutes for the first questioner of each party as follows for the first round: Conservative Party; Liberal Party; Bloc Québécois; New Democratic Party. For the second and subsequent rounds, the order and time for questioning be as follows: Conservative Party, five minutes; Liberal Party, five minutes; Bloc Québécois, two and a half minutes; New Democratic Party, two and a half minutes; Conservative Party, five minutes; Liberal Party, five minutes.

3:55 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry

Are there any comments or questions?

(Motion agreed to)

3:55 p.m.

Liberal

Tim Louis Liberal Kitchener—Conestoga, ON

The next section is labelled “Document Distribution”. I move:

That only the clerk of the committee be authorized to distribute documents to members of the Committee provided the documents are in both official languages, and that the witnesses be advised accordingly.

(Motion agreed to)

3:55 p.m.

Liberal

Tim Louis Liberal Kitchener—Conestoga, ON

Regarding “Working Meals”, I move:

That the clerk of the committee, at the discretion of the Chair, be authorized to make the necessary arrangements to provide working meals for the committee and its subcommittees.

(Motion agreed to)

3:55 p.m.

Liberal

Tim Louis Liberal Kitchener—Conestoga, ON

The next section is “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.

(Motion agreed to)

3:55 p.m.

Liberal

Tim Louis Liberal Kitchener—Conestoga, ON

Regarding “Access to In Camera Meetings", I move:

That, unless otherwise ordered, each committee member be allowed to be accompanied by one staff member at in camera meetings and that one additional person from each House officer’s office be allowed to be present.

(Motion agreed to)

3:55 p.m.

Liberal

Tim Louis Liberal Kitchener—Conestoga, ON

Regarding “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; and that the analysts assigned to the committee also have access to the in camera transcripts.

(Motion agreed to)

3:55 p.m.

Liberal

Tim Louis Liberal Kitchener—Conestoga, ON

Regarding “Notice of Motion”, I move:

That a 48-hour notice, interpreted as two nights, be required for any substantive motion to be moved in committee, unless the substantive motion relates directly to business then under consideration, provided that: (a) the notice be filed with the clerk of the committee no later than 4:00 p.m. from Monday to Friday; (b) the motion be distributed to members and the offices of the whips of each recognized party 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; (c) 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 holding meetings outside the Parliamentary Precinct, no substantive motion may be moved.

(Motion agreed to)

3:55 p.m.

Liberal

Tim Louis Liberal Kitchener—Conestoga, ON

The next motion is “Orders of Reference from the House Respecting Bills”. I move:

That in relation to orders of reference from the House respecting Bills,

(a) The clerk of the committee shall, upon the committee receiving such an order of reference, write to each member who is not a member of a caucus represented on the committee to invite those members to file with the clerk of the committee, in both official languages, any amendments to the bill, which is the subject of the said Order, which they would suggest that the committee consider;

(b) Suggested amendments filed, pursuant to paragraph (a), at least 48 hours prior to the start of clause-by-clause consideration of the bill to which the amendments relate shall be deemed to be proposed during the said consideration, provided that the committee may, by motion, vary this deadline in respect of a given bill; and

(c) During the clause-by-clause consideration of a bill, the Chair shall allow a member who filed suggested amendments, pursuant to paragraph (a), an opportunity to make brief representations in support of them.

(Motion agreed to)

3:55 p.m.

Liberal

Tim Louis Liberal Kitchener—Conestoga, ON

Regarding “Technical tests for witnesses”, I move:

That the clerk inform each witness who is to appear before the committee that the House administration support team must conduct technical tests to check the connectivity and the equipment used to ensure the best possible sound quality; and that the Chair advise the committee, at the start of each meeting, of any witness who did not perform the required technical tests.

(Motion agreed to)

4 p.m.

Liberal

Tim Louis Liberal Kitchener—Conestoga, ON

Finally, there is “Linguistic Review”. I move:

That all documents submitted for committee business that do not come from a federal department, members’ offices, or that have not been translated by the Translation Bureau be sent for prior linguistic review by the Translation Bureau before being distributed to members.

(Motion agreed to)

4 p.m.

Bloc

Martin Champoux Bloc Drummond, QC

I have a point of order, Madam Chair.

If we're done with the routine motions, I have two motions I'd like to propose.

4 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry

No, we haven't. We have one more routine motion. I'm sorry.

4 p.m.

Bloc

Martin Champoux Bloc Drummond, QC

My apologies.

4 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry

I think you all have the motions before you. We're suggesting that if you want to go with this particular motion or you want to leave it out or whatever, it's optional.

4 p.m.

NDP

Peter Julian NDP New Westminster—Burnaby, BC

On a point of order, Madam Chair, to which motion are you referring? Are you referring to the one—

4 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry

It's the one on publishing online written responses to questions from the Department of Heritage.

Tim, did you not read this?

4 p.m.

Liberal

Tim Louis Liberal Kitchener—Conestoga, ON

No, Madam Chair. I don't believe I had that one. The last one I did was on linguistic review.

4 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry

Yes, I know, but I have this one here and I wondered about it. Have you not seen this?

It's my understanding that this was part of the routine motions that were put forward by the committee last year. If you want to continue with that and leave it there, fine. If you don't, as I said, it's optional, obviously.

4 p.m.

Bloc

Martin Champoux Bloc Drummond, QC

I have it here, Madam Chair.

4 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry

Shall we go ahead, then?