Evidence of meeting #111 for Environment and Sustainable Development in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was province.
A video is available from Parliament.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Francis Scarpaleggia
I understand what you're saying, Mr. Mazier. But Ms. Pauzé is telling us that we have nothing to worry about, because the proposed amendment to the motion does not say that the documents will be sent out by email. The amendment merely says that we will have the right to consult the documents. The documents could be at Environment Canada. Committee members who wanted to consult them would have to cross the river to do so.
Mr. van Koeverden, do you have anything to add?
Liberal
Adam van Koeverden Liberal Milton, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
What we discussed is that, collectively, we all agreed in the commercial break that none of us really wanted to be in the position to have viewed confidential documents going into a question and answer period with officials. I take the observations that you made with Ms. Pauzé. All I would ask—this is my subamendment—is that we add the words “in camera”. It would be “Net-Zero Accelerator to be viewed by the committee and their staff in camera, as long as required by members of the committee”.
Liberal
Adam van Koeverden Liberal Milton, ON
Where it says “the Net-Zero Accelerator be viewed by the committee and their staff”, we add “in camera, as long as required by members of the committee” because as you and Ms. Pauzé very rightly pointed out, it doesn't say anything about emails. That was my concern, that we're going to start sending confidential documents around over emails to staff and everybody—
Liberal
Liberal
Adam van Koeverden Liberal Milton, ON
I want to observe that we agreed that viewing these documents prior to the question and answer period with officials would require us to be very judicious in the questions that we ask, because nobody here wants to compromise—
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Francis Scarpaleggia
We don't want anybody to be called on a point of privilege, so we have to be careful.
Liberal
Adam van Koeverden Liberal Milton, ON
That was the reason we might do the viewing of the confidential unredacted documents in camera afterwards.
Liberal
Adam van Koeverden Liberal Milton, ON
We're not doing that anymore. We agreed that we're abandoning that section of this, so we're going to have to be very judicious.
Liberal
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Francis Scarpaleggia
No, the documents will be somewhere, in a room, in camera, and people can consult them. They're not going to be distributed by email. People are going to go to a room if they want to consult the documents, and we don't know where that room will be. I think we've got it here, if you give me a second.
Mr. van Koeverden's subamendment is to simply add after “to be viewed by the committee and their staff”, the words “in camera”.
Liberal
Adam van Koeverden Liberal Milton, ON
Yes, the words should be added in two places, following the same sentence about the net-zero accelerator fund.
It happens twice.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Francis Scarpaleggia
All right.
The words “in camera” need to be added in two places.
If we adopt Mr. van Koeverden's subamendment, we'll be able to vote on Mr. Leslie's amendment as subamended.
Conservative
Branden Leslie Conservative Portage—Lisgar, MB
I have a request, given that we are in public and I hope that....
Conservative
Branden Leslie Conservative Portage—Lisgar, MB
I'm not messing with the.... That's fine. We are in a committee of the House of Commons. I don't really want to go to the department across the river. I believe that they should have the documents available through our committee here within the House of Commons precinct.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Francis Scarpaleggia
We could have them wherever the committee secretariat is. I'm sure there's a little room where we can have the documents.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Francis Scarpaleggia
Listen. It will be my office if it has to be. That's incidental, but I take your point. We shouldn't have to go across the river.
Conservative
Branden Leslie Conservative Portage—Lisgar, MB
I will just say I'm not a lawyer. I'm a politician, and—
Liberal
