Subcommittee of the Standing Committee on Finance on Bill C-38 Committee on May 28th, 2012

[Kirsty Duncan, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

Did the government come to you, and did you have a formal consultation on this new legislation?

[Pierre Gratton]

I'm not sure I understand.

[The Chair, Conservative, Blaine Calkins]

Mr. Gratton and Ms. Duncan, I have a point of order from Mr. Anderson.

[David Anderson, Conservative, Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK]

Ms. Duncan may have the same problem Mr. Chisholm had, which is that they don't understand that this is a budget bill and that we had six months of consultations, with people contributing to it from all across Canada. Thousands of people were able to contribute at hundreds of hearings, and the finance committee travelled across the country. So to ask someone if they have had a chance to participate in this bill is pretty much a ludicrous question.

[The Chair, Conservative, Blaine Calkins]

Thank you.

I'm going to hear from Ms. Duncan on this.

Are you talking to the point of order?

[Kirsty Duncan, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

Please, Mr. Chair.

I'd like to be very clear. I understand what the budget consultation process is. I have asked a very specific question: what formal questions was MAC asked? Was there a formal consultation process?

[The Chair, Conservative, Blaine Calkins]

I heard your question.

Ms. Rempel, are you on the same point of order?

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Centre-North, AB]

Certainly, Mr. Chair.

To my colleague Mr. Anderson's point, there were also extensive consultations in the statutory review of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, which many partner organizations have participated in.

[The Chair, Conservative, Blaine Calkins]

On the same point of order, I'll hear Mr. Julian.

[Peter Julian, NDP, Burnaby—New Westminster, BC]

Mr. Chair, this repeated bullying of opposition members trying to stop the questioning is completely inappropriate. I hope you will ask government members to control themselves and stop these bullying tactics.

[The Chair, Conservative, Blaine Calkins]

Oh, I hope we're not going to go down here.

Ms. Rempel.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Centre-North, AB]

Mr. Chair, as a new parliamentarian, I certainly have been shocked by the comments of some of my colleagues opposite and the rhetoric of their prefacing. I would ask you to consider the definition of bullying prior to making a ruling.

[The Chair, Conservative, Blaine Calkins]

I don't think anybody is being bullied here. I think everybody at the table has had ample opportunity to make their cases.

Ms. Duncan, your line of questioning is yours to pursue within the context of the rules. However, I appreciate the points of order from all sides on this particular occasion. If members want to make the case for whether consultation has or hasn't happened, they are free to do so during their own personal lines of questioning.

Ms. Duncan, please continue.

[Kirsty Duncan, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

May I ask the same question again? Is that your ruling?

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Blaine Calkins]

You don't need to use your time to ask it again.

Go ahead and answer if you would like, Mr. Gratton.

[Kirsty Duncan, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

Mr. Gratton, could I have my answer, please?

[Pierre Gratton]

The problem is, I am not quite sure I understand the question. We did participate in the standing committee's review of the act.

[Kirsty Duncan, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

I understand that. I was there. I have asked a question—

[Pierre Gratton]

We have participated and made our views known with respect to CEAA for as long as I can remember—for as long as I have been working at the Mining Association of Canada.

[Kirsty Duncan, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

Okay, I'll move on.

Do you support the repeal of CEAA? Just give a one-word answer, yes or no.

[Pierre Gratton]

You asked me that already, and I said yes. With the replacement, I think this is a better bill.

[Kirsty Duncan, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

Thank you.

In your press release of March 29, you seemed pleased that:

Of special note is a commitment to introduce the concept of “equivalency” in federal environmental assessments, whereby the federal government can accept a comparable provincial environmental assessment as its own. This will eliminate the need for two, duplicative reviews for a single project....

And it continues.

That really seems to be in opposition to your January briefing—

[Pierre Gratton]

It's not so. If you read our January briefing, we actually—

[Kirsty Duncan, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

—where you say, “For the first time provincial and federal assessments are synchronized.”

[Pierre Gratton]

Yes, and our brief also actually then recommended that the government go further and bring forward the concept of equivalency. We very explicitly called for equivalency in our brief, which is why we're pleased to see it.