Finance Committee on May 27th, 2008

[Olivia Chow, NDP, Trinity—Spadina, ON]

Oh, 3514146?

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

No, it's 3514746, not 3514146.

[Olivia Chow, NDP, Trinity—Spadina, ON]

You've taken some that are out of order.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

No, we're doing them in order, but not the order you gave us. They were out of order as you gave them to us. That's why you have to follow it by the number. It's 3514746. Are you interested in moving it?

[Olivia Chow, NDP, Trinity—Spadina, ON]

Yes, I am. Just give me a second; let me just find it. That can count into my five minutes.

Ah, yes, I found it: amendment 3514746. It's for page 98, to amend Bill C-50 in clause 121 by replacing lines 33 and 34 on page 98, which is the “Act...or that the Board is restricted”, by adding after line 38 on page 98, the following:

The Board may, however, make recommendations on matters related to the design, delivery, and policies of the Employment Insurance programs.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

You've introduced it. I will deem that one as contrary to the principle of the bill, so it's inadmissible.

Now we'll move on to the next amendment you have there, which is number 3514146. Are you interested in moving that one?

[Olivia Chow, NDP, Trinity—Spadina, ON]

This is about the board's chairperson.

This will again be for clause 121, replacing line 9 on page 99 with the following:

The chairperson shall be designated in the following manner:

(a) the three directors shall be chosen from the list provided by the most representative employers' associations; and

(b) the three directors shall be chosen from the list provided by the most representative union associations; and

(c) one director shall represent the Government of Canada.

Mr. Chair, I want to say that it's only fair that there's equal representation, whether from the employers or the employees, and that the government also have one representative. Earlier on, on that page it talks about those who are not qualified to be on the board, if they have been bankrupt, etc., but certainly it would be useful to have people of equal representation at the committee.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

Okay, fair enough.

We'll entertain a vote on this one.

Do you want a recorded vote?

[Olivia Chow, NDP, Trinity—Spadina, ON]

Sure, just for this one. Perhaps there will be a pattern again.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

Just for this one?

[Olivia Chow, NDP, Trinity—Spadina, ON]

Well, I don't know. We'll see if there's a pattern.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

I'd like that, just for this one

[Olivia Chow, NDP, Trinity—Spadina, ON]

Perhaps.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

All right, let's vote on the amendment.

(Amendment negatived: nays 4; yeas 3; abstentions 3)

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

Now we will move on to the three other amendments to this clause, and we will do them very quickly.

I will not wait very long if you're not quite ready, Ms. Chow. It's number 3512996.

Introduce it very quickly.

[Olivia Chow, NDP, Trinity—Spadina, ON]

It's NDP-1.

I do have five minutes, do I not?

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

No, that's per clause.

[Olivia Chow, NDP, Trinity—Spadina, ON]

Per clause, okay.

It's on line 10.

Speaking about closure, what happened to the open and democratic Conservative government?

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

Introduce that very quickly, because I'm going to call it out of order otherwise.

[Olivia Chow, NDP, Trinity—Spadina, ON]

Amendment NDP-1 proposes that line 10, page 100, be replaced with the following:

with the approval of the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Social Development, and the Status of People with Disabilities, to hold office during good

So we are replacing the text in the bill so that the appointment of each director has this kind of approval.

Speaking about being democratic, you do want the submission to be vetted through the Standing Committee on Human Resources and Social Development so there will be even more transparency for employment insurance and this whole body?

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

They are vetted through order in council, so this is beyond the scope of the bill and I deem it inadmissible.

We'll now go down to number 3512823.

You're welcome to introduce that.

[Olivia Chow, NDP, Trinity—Spadina, ON]

I beg your pardon, but may I just ask, why is this inadmissible? Using orders in council is very different from having directors vetted through a standing committee. Why would this be out of order?

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

Because this amendment seeks to modify the mechanisms by including the House of Commons Standing Committee on Human Resources, Social Development, and the Status of Persons with Disabilities as a decision-making authority in that process, and that's why I deem it inadmissible.

[Olivia Chow, NDP, Trinity—Spadina, ON]

May I challenge the chair on that one?

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

You can.

I can quote what House of Commons Procedure and Practice states on page 654, if you like. But the chair has been challenged.

All in favour of the chair? Opposed?

(Ruling of the chair sustained)

I made it by the skin of my teeth again. Thank you very much for your confidence.