Evidence of meeting #114 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 see.
A recording is available from Parliament.
6:30 p.m.
Conservative
Ed Fast Conservative Abbotsford, BC
I would like a recorded vote, please.
(Amendment agreed to: yeas 9; nays 0)
6:30 p.m.
Green
Elizabeth May Green Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC
Madam Chair, as we move into clause 10, I think it's worth noting that we left the impact assessment act. In the context of an omnibus bill of three acts.... I'm losing track of how many hours, but there have been four meetings, and up to this point, we've covered 90 pages in approximately 12 hours. We now have two and a half hours left for the remaining 260 pages. I mark this for the record, because I do not think it was appropriate to put the Canadian energy regulator act, the Navigation Protection Act, and the impact assessment act in the same piece of legislation. I don't believe the responsibility for that lies with the people around this table, but I think it should be noted, because we're working through this bill, and we know that, despite best efforts by everyone around this table, we're not going to get through a proper review of two acts.
I will not take any more time, though, and just say that my amendment is to provide a definition of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, because later amendments seek to reference it, so I want to make sure it's properly defined in the operative part of the act. I think it can help with the preambular part that we've just carried.
6:30 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Deb Schulte
For the record, there were numerous times that I asked to extend, start early, and add days, and that hasn't been accepted.
6:30 p.m.
NDP
6:30 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Deb Schulte
No, that was after, but not adding days in the interim during which we had to do the work. I just wanted that on the record.
6:30 p.m.
NDP
Linda Duncan NDP Edmonton Strathcona, AB
I'm happy to add days. Let's come back on Wednesday and Thursday.
6:30 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Deb Schulte
There were many opportunities to have extra time, and they weren't taken.
Mr. Fast, go ahead.
6:30 p.m.
Conservative
Ed Fast Conservative Abbotsford, BC
Madam Chair, I share the same concerns. We have said at this table many times already that the time frames that have been imposed upon this committee by the government, after the government had committed to not interfering in committee work, are unreasonable and much too short to deal with such a broad piece of legislation that incorporated, as my colleague just said, navigable waters, the Canadian energy regulator, and the impact assessment act all in one piece.
To short-circuit this by not giving this legislation the time required to get it right is, quite frankly, a disgrace. Canadians who watch and hear what's going on in this committee know that at the end of the day the result will be something that is highly unsatisfactory to pretty well everybody, both those in industry and those on the environmental side. Why? First, the number of witnesses who were allowed to appear at this committee was restricted to, say, 24 or 25.
6:35 p.m.
Conservative
Ed Fast Conservative Abbotsford, BC
As well, over 400 amendments came forward, many of which came from the government members themselves. I think that in itself exposes the shallowness of this legislation and the fact that the fix was in and this was going to get rammed through no matter what. Notwithstanding the Prime Minister's protestations that somehow he was open to amendments, virtually every amendment this side has proposed has been voted down by the Liberal members of this committee. This whole process has been a sham.
I'm not pinning this on you, Madam Chair.
6:35 p.m.
Conservative
Ed Fast Conservative Abbotsford, BC
You're doing the bidding of people who are probably higher on the ladder than you are, and it's unfortunate that at the end of the day we're going to get something that will be highly unsatisfactory.
6:35 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Deb Schulte
I just want to say that we have been doing very well, and I've been giving the people the time they need to understand the different amendments. We've had a lot of amendments. Many of them have been similar, and while they may have been voted down on one side, they've been picked up in another version by another party. I'm just letting you know that there has been a lot of work by all three parties on this bill, and I've been giving a lot of time to try to make sure everybody understands.
I know we're running short. I tried several times to add some extra days, not at the end but in the interim. We could have had Mondays, or we could have had other days.
6:35 p.m.
Liberal
6:35 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Deb Schulte
I also had to extend days. Let's just leave it, then, and move on to the work, because we are actually taking time away from the work in the bill.
Linda, go ahead.
6:35 p.m.
Liberal
6:35 p.m.
Liberal
William Amos Liberal Pontiac, QC
Madam Chair, I simply want to state for the record that I find member Fast's comments to be offensive, and I would simply point to the fact that CEAA 2012 never went through a clause-by-clause study.
6:35 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Deb Schulte
Linda will speak, and then we will try to move back to the work of the bill.
