Evidence of meeting #1 for Environment and Sustainable Development in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was six.
A recording is available from Parliament.
11:40 a.m.
Conservative
11:40 a.m.
NDP
Nathan Cullen NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
Then hammer away on the poor New Democrats for two minutes less than everybody else. That's fine. We're okay with that.
Again, you can tell I'm fighting for it, but not entirely, that we take that proposal. If it's amenable to the government members, then we move on.
11:40 a.m.
Liberal
Mike Bossio Liberal Hastings—Lennox and Addington, ON
Once again I would like to propose that a lot of careful deliberation was given to this schedule, this allotment of time, and the order of it. I would like to try it and see if it works, and then revisit it after a period of time, and if there's been a mistake and six minutes just isn't enough time, we could bump it up to seven. I'd like to see if we can make this work. If we come to the conclusion later on that it doesn't, then let's revisit it at that time.
11:40 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Deb Schulte
I'm trying to take in everything everybody has said and also to start off on a foot of collegiality and consideration for everything that was said.
I can't speak really, but I'm struggling with this change in order, and I'm not sure I'm really comfortable about the change. We have 51 minutes, and I think the intent was to try to give a focused opportunity for that discussion. The order I'm not sure about; the timing I'm comfortable with.
We have a motion on the table. Is there going to be an amendment to that motion?
Mr. Fast.
11:40 a.m.
Conservative
Ed Fast Conservative Abbotsford, BC
I'll make the amendment as I stated and suggested in our informal discussion.
11:40 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Deb Schulte
You're making an amendment to change the order so that it's Liberals seven minutes, Conservatives seven minutes, NDP seven minutes, Liberals seven minutes. The second round is Conservatives five minutes, Liberals five minutes, Conservatives five minutes, Liberals five minutes, and NDP three minutes.
11:40 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Deb Schulte
Is there any further discussion or should we bring it to a vote?
Mr. Bossio.
11:40 a.m.
Liberal
Mike Bossio Liberal Hastings—Lennox and Addington, ON
I have just one further clarification. I believe at PROC it was agreed that the NDP would end up with two minutes for the very last question to keep it at 50 minutes. That's just a point of clarification, though once again I stand by my original view that we should stick to the original time allotment, and if we need to revisit it, let's revisit it down the road.
11:40 a.m.
Liberal
Darren Fisher Liberal Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS
I'm listening to all of the feedback from across the way, but so far the best argument was made by Mr. Bossio when he listed off the percentages.
I'm fine with the way it's written now, and unless someone can convince me otherwise, I won't be supporting the amendment.
11:45 a.m.
Liberal
Mike Bossio Liberal Hastings—Lennox and Addington, ON
On a point of clarification, are we voting for or against the amendment, or are we voting for or against the motion?
11:45 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Deb Schulte
We're voting for or against the amendment.
(Amendment negatived)
(Motion agreed to)
That brings us to the end of the routine motions, and I'm just trying to find my script.
The clerk has distributed a calendar.
Do you have it?
11:45 a.m.
An hon. member
Yes, we have it.
11:45 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Deb Schulte
Okay. We have a calendar. Next week is a non-sitting week, and then we're back. I just wanted to make sure that we're comfortable with the calendar.
I was thinking that in our first week back, after next week, on the Tuesday, I'd like to have some feedback—and maybe we'll have to do it in camera so that we're very frank—on what each of us wants to achieve by being on this committee and where we'd like to go with the committee. We'd have that discussion, with each of us having five minutes or four minutes, and just go around the table and explore what each would like to achieve from this committee. I thought that might be a good way to kick off the Tuesday so that we can discuss our ambitions.
It's a very broad canvas we have to work on, and I think getting a sense of where everybody would like to go is a great way to start, but it's really up to us, up to you, whether you think that's a good use of Tuesday's meeting.
What do you think? It would be the 16th, from eleven until one. We don't know the room yet, but as soon as we get it we'll let you know.
Mr. Cullen.
11:45 a.m.
NDP
Nathan Cullen NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
I think that's a great idea, Chair. I think it's a great way to proceed to get a sense of where the committee is.
11:45 a.m.
Liberal
Darren Fisher Liberal Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS
Are you proposing a blue-sky meeting where we sit around and free flow, or is there an official...?
11:45 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Deb Schulte
It would be official. You'd each have a bit of time. I don't really mind what the time is, but we can't go forever. Let's give ourselves five minutes—
11:45 a.m.
Some hon. members
Oh, oh!
11:45 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Deb Schulte
We'll see how efficient we can be.
We'll give each other six minutes to explore what our passion is, what we don't want to be on the committee for, where we'd like the committee to go, and maybe a little bit about what we're bringing to the committee.
Mr. Fast.
