Evidence of meeting #1 for Environment and Sustainable Development in the 39th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was chair.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Mark Warawa Conservative Langley, BC
You're talking about reduced quorum, Chair, and I'm talking about both. You could have a reduced quorum of five people and you could have a quorum of seven people. You could have those meetings without any member of the government. That's what's being proposed by the opposition.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Bob Mills
No, no, because the chair calls the meeting, so the chair must be there.
Conservative
Mark Warawa Conservative Langley, BC
And if the chair then asks a member, the vice-chair, that meeting could take place without members of the government. Through you to the clerk, is that a possible scenario?
The Clerk
According to this motion, the chair would be authorized to hold meetings, and the chair is the chair. I suppose if you read this motion, the vice-chair would not be authorized. Otherwise, you're going to say the chair or vice-chair be authorized to hold meetings to receive evidence.
So the way this is phrased, it means the chair must be there, and there must be one member from the opposition, at least. It could be two, it could be two in one—
Conservative
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Bob Mills
And that's because a witness is here, or somewhere, and we want to hear that witness because—
Conservative
Mark Warawa Conservative Langley, BC
But in that scenario you could have a meeting with no voices from the government—
Conservative
Mark Warawa Conservative Langley, BC
That's a possibility, and I don't think that is right. It's not democratic.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Bob Mills
I don't know why the chair would call that meeting if that were the case.
Conservative
Mark Warawa Conservative Langley, BC
Would it put the chair in a position to be challenged if he didn't? We saw that.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Bob Mills
No, because the rules say the chair calls the meeting. That's how I interpret the rules, as we are going to vote.
Mr. McGuinty.
Liberal
David McGuinty Liberal Ottawa South, ON
Following up on Mr. Warawa comments, does he actually believe that the chair of this committee, who is a member of the Conservative caucus, is going to call a meeting without advising his own colleagues? If the members of the government caucus decide not to show up for one reason or another, as they did in several instances last spring in different committee settings, that's their choice.
This is a minimum threshold, as the clerk has pointed out. The chair is the person authorized to call the meeting. If there is this minimized quorum available, we go on and do business.
I don't see what this is about at all, Mr. Chair.
Liberal
David McGuinty Liberal Ottawa South, ON
It's hearing witnesses and receiving testimony and evidence. What is the problem here?
Bloc
Bernard Bigras Bloc Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC
I do not want to repeat what I said earlier. I see where Mr. Warawa wants to go with this. But the committee's work cannot be disrupted if a member of the governing party does not attend a meeting. Given the number of people opposite, I am sure that the government can find someone to sit on the committee.
I don't know what Mr. Warawa is trying to achieve, but this is first and foremost a committee of parliamentarians. We must ensure that the committee meets and conducts its work in a proper manner.
Conservative
Luc Harvey Conservative Louis-Hébert, QC
It is highly unlikely that the Bloc Québécois would forget to send a representative to the committee, as it is highly unlikely that—
