Evidence of meeting #97 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 agency.
A recording is available from Parliament.
6 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Francis Scarpaleggia
I don't think the intention was to invite ministers.
What do you think, Mr. Mazier?
6 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Francis Scarpaleggia
Madam Pauzé is saying that we don't normally invite provincial ministers. I don't think you were looking at provincial ministers.
6 p.m.
Conservative
Dan Mazier Conservative Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa, MB
No, that's not the intention. It's whomever are the water authorities.
6 p.m.
Conservative
Dan Mazier Conservative Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa, MB
It's more about provincial jurisdiction. If we make a federal plan, how does that interact?
6 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Francis Scarpaleggia
No, I was....
We weren't looking to invite elected officials.
6 p.m.
Bloc
Monique Pauzé Bloc Repentigny, QC
I still have questions.
Do we need two more meetings to hear from witnesses from the provinces and territories? There are 10 provinces, and Quebec does not want to send witnesses. That leaves us with nine.
6 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Francis Scarpaleggia
It could be fewer than that. If some provinces don't want to send witnesses, we'll probably need only one meeting.
6 p.m.
Bloc
Monique Pauzé Bloc Repentigny, QC
I agree, but we would still be hearing from two groups per meeting.
6 p.m.
Bloc
Monique Pauzé Bloc Repentigny, QC
Eight witnesses is a lot. That's a whole lot of people. We're talking about eight witnesses per committee meeting.
6 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Francis Scarpaleggia
That could take one and a half meetings. Depending on how interested the provinces are, it could be one meeting. If no one from the provinces wants to appear before the committee, we won't have those two meetings.
6 p.m.
Bloc
Monique Pauzé Bloc Repentigny, QC
That's for meetings with officials from Quebec, the provinces and the territories.
For the other two meetings, we are talking about eight witnesses.
6:05 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Francis Scarpaleggia
That's the maximum.
If we are at the end of our list, it may be one more meeting. We're not looking to have meetings for the sake of having meetings.
6:05 p.m.
Bloc
Monique Pauzé Bloc Repentigny, QC
That's fine. I'm okay with that.
So when will it be decided? If today we decide that there will be four meetings, when will we decide that three meetings may be enough?
6:05 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Francis Scarpaleggia
If we run out of witnesses and the party members do not propose other witnesses, the clerk and analysts will tell us that our study is complete.
6:05 p.m.
Bloc
Monique Pauzé Bloc Repentigny, QC
I must admit that it's difficult for the Bloc Québécois, which only covers Quebec, to find witnesses. Some people observed certain things and didn't like that. It's different for committee members from the other parties, because there are a lot more of them. Also, they cover all of Canada. In that case, they could take the Bloc's place at any time and hold the two meetings.
6:05 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Francis Scarpaleggia
The committee is not looking to waste time. There are some important witnesses we should hear from, such as the commissioner, who wants to testify. This is to give us a little bit of leeway to do it right. Our goal is not to extend the study just for the sake of extending it.
6:05 p.m.
Bloc
Monique Pauzé Bloc Repentigny, QC
Based on the motion concerning the study that the committee voted on, there are two meetings left. We had voted for 13 meetings, and today's is the 11th. Is that right?
6:05 p.m.
Bloc
Monique Pauzé Bloc Repentigny, QC
With the new meetings, we would still have six meetings left for the water study.