Evidence of meeting #33 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 amendment.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
The Vice-Chair Liberal Geoff Regan
Mr. Godfrey has moved his amendment L-21 with that one change to 11(3) instead of 11(2).
Debate?
Mr. Warawa.
Conservative
Mark Warawa Conservative Langley, BC
Chair, I'm going to ask if we can have a five-minute break to discuss this. I'm concerned about clause 19, which is the schedule, is it not?
Liberal
The Vice-Chair Liberal Geoff Regan
Clause 19 is an amendment.
If you're asking for a suspension for five minutes--
Liberal
John Godfrey Liberal Don Valley West, ON
Do we have an understanding that we'll be carrying on today?
Liberal
The Vice-Chair Liberal Geoff Regan
If we're asking for a suspension, it's a given that we'd carry on. I can't adjourn until there's an indication of agreement to adjourn, in any event, as Mr. Mills has acquainted me with in the past.
So we'll suspend for five minutes. This is to do with clause 19, and I hope we'll end up getting out of here before too long.
Liberal
The Vice-Chair Liberal Geoff Regan
The meeting will come back to order.
We're at amendment L-21.
Mr. Godfrey, did you already move amendment L-21? Yes, you did.
Liberal
John Godfrey Liberal Don Valley West, ON
Perhaps Marie-Andrée will come forward on this, because of what we're doing here.
Parliamentary Counsel (Legislation), Office of the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel
Yes.
Liberal
Liberal
John Godfrey Liberal Don Valley West, ON
I believe that with respect to amendment L-21, which is the transitional provision, you now think that in light of what we are going to do it will not be necessary. Is that correct?
Parliamentary Counsel (Legislation), Office of the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel
Clause 15.1 was added to target departments designated under the Auditor General Act. But in the new provisions that you brought forward today, you add a schedule to Bill C-474 that reproduces the list in the schedule to the Auditor General Act. That being the case, clause 15.1 is no longer necessary because that will now be done under the new act.
Liberal
Liberal
Liberal
Conservative
Mark Warawa Conservative Langley, BC
Chair, we have core amendments in clause 18 coming up. We stood clause 14. I'm going to be asking that we stand clauses 16 and 17 and move on to clause 18.
Liberal
The Vice-Chair Liberal Geoff Regan
On clause 18 we begin with amendment G-16 on page 43 of the large package.
Mr. Warawa, would you like to move this amendment?
Conservative
Liberal
The Vice-Chair Liberal Geoff Regan
The amendment is so moved.
On debate, Mr. Warawa, would you care to illuminate further?
Conservative
Mark Warawa Conservative Langley, BC
Yes, I'm just getting ready.
Obviously we support this amendment. The requirement for departments to prepare sustainable development strategies is better placed within this proposed legislation than in the Auditor General Act. Therefore, section 24 of the Auditor General Act should continue to be repealed.
Amendments to clause 11 of the bill introduced the language from section 24 of the Auditor General Act, which strengthened the language that was there originally--for instance, by requiring that departmental sustainable development strategies be tabled in Parliament.
This amendment kills two birds with one stone, so to speak, by both repealing section 24 of the Auditor General Act and amending section 23 of that act, to clarify the role of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development vis-à-vis the federal strategy, and secondly, to correct references to the repeal of section 24 of the Auditor General Act, which should now refer to clause 11 of the federal sustainable development act.