Canadian Heritage Committee on May 31st, 2022

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Please begin.

Mrs. Thomas, with consideration for the witnesses, should I allow them to stay or ask them to leave?

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Madam Chair, the witnesses have stayed well past the time they were asked to be with us, so if you feel it's most appropriate to give them the freedom to go, that's your prerogative as chair, of course.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you.

As you well know, we have a hard 6:30 end to this particular meeting and the CRTC is waiting to join us.

Thank you very much, witnesses, for kindly coming here today and giving your time. I'm afraid that we will no longer need you to bear witness, because the time has ended for this particular hour-long session. Thank you again for giving us your time.

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

I have a point of order, Madam Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Yes, Mr. Julian.

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

I would like to ask Mrs. Thomas to table her motion. I think it's worthy of some consideration, but given that we have the CRTC coming—

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

I have a point of order.

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

—and given that we have—

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

I have a point of order.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

A point of order is already on the table and the member is speaking to that point of order.

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Madam Chair, this is not a point of order.

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Madam Chair, it would seem to me reasonable, as you recognized me on the point of order—

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

This is not a point of order.

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Mrs. Thomas can be reasonable and allow the witnesses to complete their testimony. We can clarify the CRTC's comments with them. I think they have been mis-characterized. I would ask her simply to table it until after the CRTC comes to this committee.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Mr. Julian, that is now a bit of debate. I think it is in order for the motion to be on the floor and for me to ask the witnesses to leave, because the time for this particular session has finished. We can then let Mrs. Thomas read her motion and we will proceed.

Thank you very much again, witnesses. You may leave. I am so very sorry. I apologize.

Now, Mr. Julian brings up a point and, in some ways, it is a sort of point of order, in that Mr. Julian is speaking to the orders of the day that we have to see and listen to the CRTC right now.

I will give you back the floor to make that point. Go ahead.

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Madam Chair, we have the CRTC coming. I think this may well be an important motion to discuss, but to not give an opportunity for clarification to the chair of the CRTC strikes me as weird, quite frankly, and unprofessional. What Mr. Scott said at the meeting held on May 18 was as follows: “As constructed, there is a provision that would allow us to do it as required”.

I would like to quickly respond to the general tenor of those comments, and to Mrs. Thomas. That's all true today. We could do any of the things Mrs. Thomas spoke about today under the Broadcasting Act. In other words, those provisions currently exist, putting aside Bill C-11. It seems to me that clarifying those comments is valid. It seems to me that the motion, of course, is in order, as you've mentioned, Madam Chair, but to cut off the CRTC from testifying is bizarre. It's simply inappropriate.

I would ask Mrs. Thomas, through you, Madam Chair, to simply table consideration of the motion, which she has the right to do, until after we've heard from the CRTC and enabled the chair to clarify his comments.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Ms. Thomas, you've been asked to perform a courtesy.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Madam Chair, what is it that you're asking me?

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Mr. Julian asked you a question. He asked you to consider postponing what you have to say until we've heard some of the answers to the questions you've asked the CRTC. I'm asking you what your response is to Mr. Julian's request.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

I'm sorry. I thought he was moving a point of order.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

He did, and in it he was speaking to the order of the day, which is that the CRTC will now appear. That is the order of the day, so in many ways it was a point of order.

He's clarifying whether or not we should get the order of the day going, which is to hear from the CRTC.

He's asking you if you would allow that to happen.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Madam Chair, I just want to make sure that we're on the same page here.

I'm familiar with the orders of the day when we're speaking to the House of Commons and the procedures that take place there. What I have in front of me is a notice of meeting, and I believe it was indicated that the time that we would like to hear from the CRTC started about 10 minutes ago—no, we're supposed to be done, aren't we?

According to the orders of the day, I think this committee is supposed to be done.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

The committee does not actually finish right now. There are two hours to this committee. We've just finished the first hour of witnesses, and we're going into the second hour of witnesses, and you interrupted that order by bringing forward your admissible motion.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Chair, I take exception to the disdain in your voice. As a member of this committee—