Information & Ethics Committee on March 28th, 2022

[The Chair, Conservative, Pat Kelly]

—please jump in. Now we're conducting a de facto discussion on what we've already adopted and we have other business that we hope to get done.

[Iqra Khalid, Liberal, Mississauga—Erin Mills, ON]

I have a point of order, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Conservative, Pat Kelly]

Before I go on, I want to leave the floor to Mr. Green to wrap up, if he has anything further to add.

[Matthew Green, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

I just want to add that there was some confusion and some technical difficulty in being able to fully comprehend, from the hybrid side, what had transpired.

I was remiss if we had an opportunity to have these documents provided in an earlier timeline. It seems obvious to me that we would have done that.

I was unclear that the withdrawal had happened, but I'm happy to hear the other comments.

[The Chair, Conservative, Pat Kelly]

That is noted.

[Greg Fergus, Liberal, Hull—Aylmer, QC]

I have a point of order, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Conservative, Pat Kelly]

Again, the suggestion is to always, at any time that there is technical difficulty, please raise it.

I have Mr. Fergus first, but I have Ms. Khalid as well.

Go ahead, Mr. Fergus.

[Greg Fergus, Liberal, Hull—Aylmer, QC]

Mr. Chair, in listening to my colleague, Mr. Green, it's making me think that there was some confusion on this.

On a point of order, I'd like to suggest that the terms of the motion be clearly spelled out and that the vote be retaken. Maybe I'm wrong, but I'm gathering from Mr. Green that what he thought he was voting on wasn't exactly what he had expressed himself on, due to some of the technical difficulties he had.

I'm just wondering if there is a way, because it seems that he would prefer—

[The Chair, Conservative, Pat Kelly]

I didn't hear an intent on Mr. Green's part to reverse his vote, but in any event, we can't—

[Greg Fergus, Liberal, Hull—Aylmer, QC]

It seems that if there is a—

[The Chair, Conservative, Pat Kelly]

It would require somebody to ask for a redo, and it would require unanimous consent to have one.

Unless that is your intent right now, I'm going to move on to Ms. Khalid. I see that Mr. Bezan also has his hand up.

Are you okay, Greg? Can I go on to Ms. Khalid?

[Greg Fergus, Liberal, Hull—Aylmer, QC]

I would actually like to seek the will of this room, whether there would be an intent to have unanimous consent and I would like a roll call on that.

[The Chair, Conservative, Pat Kelly]

Mr. Fergus has asked for unanimous consent to redo the vote.

[Some hon. members]

No.

[The Chair, Conservative, Pat Kelly]

There are objections, so we won't redo the vote.

Ms. Khalid.

[Iqra Khalid, Liberal, Mississauga—Erin Mills, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I just want to express that, if any member of this committee has technical issues that prevent them from understanding what exactly it is we're voting on, then I don't believe the vote is valid. I really think we should be allowing each and every member of this committee the opportunity to fully comprehend what exactly is happening in the room.

I understand that with this hybrid format sometimes we need to spend extra time to do it. I think it's not fair to Mr. Green that he didn't know exactly what it was he was voting on. I would request that Mr. Green maybe speak on this, to see if we can find a way that every single member in this room has the opportunity to fully understand what it is we're voting on. Our votes do matter.

I would appreciate that from you, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Conservative, Pat Kelly]

Ms. Khalid, your point is well taken around the challenges that we have, particularly around voting in a hybrid meeting.

However, we went back and forth many times and were very clear that the amendments were off. The clerk was clear, in calling the vote, that we were calling the vote on the main motion and there were no amendments. I think it was as clear as we could be under the circumstances.

Mr. Bezan, you have the floor.

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

Mr. Chair, I appreciate the fact that you're trying to be accommodating, but the motion was passed and the vote was recorded.

If some members wish to put a timeline on that report, even though the motion has passed, I think it's in order to move a new motion as it relates to that, if that was something members wanted to do. If we wanted to put a Standing Order 109 condition on the report after it's tabled, we could do that. I'm not sure about the process, but it's—

[The Chair, Conservative, Pat Kelly]

May I just stop you for a moment, Mr. Bezan.

Although in English, I have floor audio on my earpiece, which cut out while you were speaking. I don't know if that affected interpretation or the ability of other members to hear.

Is everybody okay? I want to make sure we don't have a technical issue here.

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

Just to be clear, I'd ask for your advice on this, and from the table, as to whether or not it's in order to provide a timeline on a motion that was just adopted by the committee on reporting to the House. It wouldn't be an amendment to that motion, because that motion was carried unamended. This would be a secondary motion or a supplemental motion to that.

[The Chair, Conservative, Pat Kelly]

New motions are always welcome during committee business.

Mr. Green could move a motion to add that he wishes a government response, and he could put a timeline on it that would be before the end of June, if that's what Mr. Green was hoping for. He is certainly able to move that in a new motion, if he wishes. That's a good point.

Ms. Khalid, please go ahead.

[Iqra Khalid, Liberal, Mississauga—Erin Mills, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I want to highlight that, just as you had technical challenges understanding what exactly was going on in the committee without the interpretation and everything else, I hope that you can understand and appreciate why it's so important that, when we're voting on something, there's clarity around the votes.

[The Chair, Conservative, Pat Kelly]

Indeed, Ms. Khalid, and that's why I interrupted Mr. Bezan at the first sign of trouble.

[Iqra Khalid, Liberal, Mississauga—Erin Mills, ON]

Thank you.

What exactly are we debating right now?

[The Chair, Conservative, Pat Kelly]

We're not debating. There were points of order raised around the vote, which have all been addressed. A suggestion came from Mr. Bezan about the issue raised by Mr. Green.

I'm ready to move in camera and discuss the report, if there are no other members seeking the floor for motions or debate on anything before the committee.

That being the case, the meeting is suspended to go in camera.

[Proceedings continue in camera]