Evidence of meeting #4 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 process.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
Darren Fisher Liberal Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS
Mr. Fast made some really good points, as did Mr. Shields, but I think it would be an opportunity. I certainly, as a newly elected member of Parliament, would like participate.
Liberal
John Aldag Liberal Cloverdale—Langley City, BC
I'm going to throw out an idea. Would it be possible to get the list of the organizations in town? Can we circulate it, and if anybody knows of organizations that aren't in town to speak to the point raised, I assume these machines work and that we could, although it's short notice, invite others whom we may want to hear from, from across the country, to join in?
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Deb Schulte
Yes. We can have them tap in by Skype or whatever we need to do.
We will need to know today to get them queued up. We'll have to make the decision today.
Liberal
John Aldag Liberal Cloverdale—Langley City, BC
If you can get the list out so that we can look to see who's in town, then if anybody has—
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Deb Schulte
We will have to make a decision whether we're going to do this and put the day or the time to do that. In the meantime, we can spend the next day working with everyone to try to see how many we can get.
Today it was clear to me that there is some coordinating leadership to try to bring the voices together. That is a group that is here with delegates, and it's an opportunity to hear from them. Who have we not heard from?
Mr. Eglinski.
Conservative
Jim Eglinski Conservative Yellowhead, AB
I do have a problem. Right off the top of my head, the CAPP, the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association, and the railroads are all dealing with the transportation of dangerous goods. They're coming into the environment aspect.
We could have a list here that we could spend days on, just talking to people and letting them inform us. Where do we stop? They're here. Most of those associations have representatives in Ottawa. We can pick up the phone and call them. Where do we stop, gentlemen?
Liberal
Conservative
Ed Fast Conservative Abbotsford, BC
I want to preface that by saying so far the meetings have been very collaborative and collegial. When something like this is sprung on us it's unfair to the opposition parties who are in a minority.
I wish I didn't have to raise this point of order. If we're going to get real work done and we're going to collaborate and have the committee come up with some unanimous recommendations, there has to be goodwill here and the process has to be seen to be fair.
Here we are at the end of the meeting after we should have adjourned.
Liberal
Conservative
Ed Fast Conservative Abbotsford, BC
I'm prefacing the point of order. After the time we should have adjourned, we're now raising this issue of bringing in witnesses, and I don't even know who they are.
The point of order is this. You have to give 48-hours' notice.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Deb Schulte
We're under committee business so we don't need to do that. However, I recognize what you're saying.
There is a point of order over here, so I'm hearing you.
Conservative
Ed Fast Conservative Abbotsford, BC
My point of order is that 48-hours' written notice is required, unless you have the consent of the committee to proceed.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Deb Schulte
Unless it deals with the work of the committee, and that is what we're doing. We're in that, fishing right now for information to help guide us in our decision-making, and in what way the committee is going forward.
I have been given advice before on this, what can and cannot come forward, and it is possible to have this come forward in the committee right now.
I'll accept one more point of order.
Liberal
Mark Gerretsen Liberal Kingston and the Islands, ON
My point of order was that it was my understanding that if you wanted to go beyond the time when the meeting is scheduled, then you need to have the consent of the committee to do it.
Liberal
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Deb Schulte
Okay. Fair enough.
I have a very quick proposal, having listened to all the discussion. I would like to ask if next Thursday we are discussing, as we planned, what we have on the table in potential motions, but we don't table the motions. We discuss them. We put out a call for the environmental groups or we'll get a list from you as to whom you might want to have come forward to have that last chance to hear from the other organizations—because really all we've heard from is our government.
I would be prepared to entertain doing that, as long as we have an understanding that at the next meeting we're not charging ahead to put the motion on the table to make it happen at the next meeting.
Do we have agreement on that in the committee?
Conservative
Ed Fast Conservative Abbotsford, BC
I'm not sure that I would agree that we can't table the motions that we've already provided.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Deb Schulte
You can table as long as we don't force votes on them because I think that would be unfortunate.
Conservative
Ed Fast Conservative Abbotsford, BC
I'm not going to take position on that. What I will say is, if we're going to follow through.... As I said, I don't think it's a bad suggestion to hear from many of the stakeholder groups. It will be virtually impossible to do it in one session because I expect we're going to have many different groups that want to—
Liberal
