Finance Committee on May 11th, 2017

[Pierre-Luc Dusseault, NDP, Sherbrooke, QC]

I would need to get approval from them to submit something to the PBO.

[Allen Sutherland]

That's correct.

[Pierre-Luc Dusseault, NDP, Sherbrooke, QC]

To submit it by the work plan would be such a challenge. I don't know where I would turn as an individual MP to make something go through the work plan, to try to put something in that plan. I feel that my latitude to make costing requests to the PBO is much more limited by this bill than it is now. Is that correct?

[Allen Sutherland]

You're stating your personal view?

[Pierre-Luc Dusseault, NDP, Sherbrooke, QC]

No, I'm asking a question. With the bill we have before us, Bill C-44, are PBO costing requests more limited than they are now?

[Allen Sutherland]

The intent of the bill is not to restrain MPs. It's to provide different avenues for you to get the answers you need.

[Pierre-Luc Dusseault, NDP, Sherbrooke, QC]

We will have to look at that further, because my interpretation is that it will be more limited under this bill than it is now.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

Mr. Liepert.

[Ron Liepert, Conservative, Calgary Signal Hill, AB]

Mr. Sutherland, you made a comment earlier that I can't let pass. I don't think the preparation of the budget implementation act should be a learning experience. I'd like to know who came up with this cockamamie idea about costing out election platforms. I don't know how many election campaigns you've been involved in, but I've been involved in a lot. I have never yet seen an election campaign where, 128 days out, election platforms were made public. If we're going to do a PBO analysis of a half-baked campaign platform, why would we even waste the time and money on doing it? The federal election campaign is 35 days, so, if I read this right, what is that—90 days in advance of the—

Pardon?

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

The last one was 78.

[Ron Liepert, Conservative, Calgary Signal Hill, AB]

Well, that was the last one, but we're not doing that again.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[Ron Liepert, Conservative, Calgary Signal Hill, AB]

How could it be reasonable to expect the PBO to actually cost out a platform that far in advance of an election campaign?

[Allen Sutherland]

Mr. Chair, my apologies if I gave the impression that parties would have to provide their costings 120 days in advance. It's as of 120 days before the election that the PBO would be available to begin that work.

[Ron Liepert, Conservative, Calgary Signal Hill, AB]

Well, yes, but in order for the PBO to do the work and to make it a worthwhile effort, knowing how much effort there is to get information out of the civil service, I can't imagine that it would be much closer than 120 days to the actual election date for him to do the work. I don't know, but it just doesn't make any sense to me. I don't know who came up with this cockamamie idea. It makes no sense.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

I think that's a statement there, not a question. Is that correct?

Do you have one more question, Pierre?

[Pierre-Luc Dusseault, NDP, Sherbrooke, QC]

I have a supplementary question about the Board of Internal Economy.

I'm quite familiar with it, not from sitting on it, unfortunately, but from being affected by decisions that were made by it.

I have been calling for the Board of Internal Economy to be public for some time. I've talked a lot about that.

If I am in favour of this measure, how can I, as a parliamentarian, support it, when it is included in a 308-page bill? Is there any way I, as a parliamentarian, can express my agreement and vote in favour of this part of the bill, or am I forced to vote in favour of the full 308 pages?

[Don Booth]

I'm not sure.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

I don't think they can answer that question, Pierre. You can speak in the House and say that you love this part of the bill but you don't like a lot of the other 300 pages.

[Pierre-Luc Dusseault, NDP, Sherbrooke, QC]

I'm asking the same question. How do I manage that if I agree with one part of the bill but disagree with the rest?

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

All you can do is put it on the record in the House of Commons.

Thank you, gentlemen, for appearing before us on part 4, division 7.

For the information of the committee before we adjourn, we did farm out some divisions of Bill C-44 to other committees. We have had responses back from them now.

To the citizenship and immigration committee, we farmed out division 13, and to human resources, division 14. They will not study those sections of the bill. The clerk will distribute the letters from the chairs of those two committees to members shortly.

On division 12, we farmed that out to veterans affairs; division 18, to transport; and division 4 to government operations and estimates. Those chairs have indicated they will study those sections and report back to the committee.

This means there will be three divisions that other committees will look at and report back to us.

Mr. Liepert.

[Ron Liepert, Conservative, Calgary Signal Hill, AB]

The one that we still need to study is the infrastructure bank. Will the transportation committee be giving us a list of witnesses they're going to call, so we don't have any duplication of testimony?

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

I think we could work that out with the chair. I can talk to the chair.

[Ron Liepert, Conservative, Calgary Signal Hill, AB]

Okay. When would you propose that we study our portion of the infrastructure bank?

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

We have to do it next week at some point, so I'll talk to the chair first thing on Monday and see what we can work out.