Evidence of meeting #44 for Finance in the 43rd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was chair.

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On the agenda

MPs speaking

Also speaking

Clerk of the Committee  Ms. Caroline Bosc

4:35 p.m.

The Clerk

In the meantime, I have already reached out to the Kielburgers, extending the invitation for four hours tomorrow. I stated that if that doesn't work, we would do two and two. I'm waiting to hear back from them at the moment.

I'll communicate with Mr. Li as soon as you like about whichever proposal you prefer.

4:35 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter

I know other committees are meeting, but I think it would be best to have the WE Charity folks' appearances completed so that all the information is out there for any questions that people might have for the Prime Minister, but we'll see where that goes.

Go ahead, Mr. Fraser.

4:40 p.m.

Liberal

Sean Fraser Liberal Central Nova, NS

Look, this a bit of a tangential point, but nevertheless an important one to me. I don't want to be small about these things, so I'll apologize in advance if it doesn't seem as significant as some of the matters at hand.

Just in response to Mr. Ste-Marie's point about moving the committee times, on a personal and constituency level, one of the things I've really tried to do is to plan in advance to have certain meeting slots that have become routine for this committee so that I can do the simple things we all do, such as meeting with constituents, tending to the work that they would have us do, and, personally, just with a young family, trying to pair up my own schedule with that of my wife, who has her own career as well.

If we can avoid, to the extent possible, changing with limited notice the time that our committee meets, I would greatly appreciate it. There's a reason that we typically have a waiting period before notices will take effect and can be moved at the committee, even for this kind of a meeting that is outside of the ordinary course. Just as a favour—although if we must move things in this instance, I'll understand—I would beg of the committee that we try not to make a habit of last-minute changes to the ordinary meeting times.

Thank you.

4:40 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter

Thank you for that point. The point has been made.

I guess at the moment, then, we will leave it up to the clerk to see what kind of responses we get back.

Go ahead, Mr. McLeod.

4:40 p.m.

Liberal

Michael McLeod Liberal Northwest Territories, NT

Mr. Chair, I have another question for clarity. We had scheduled two presentations for 12 until one o'clock, for the one-hour period.

4:40 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter

Yes.

4:40 p.m.

Liberal

Michael McLeod Liberal Northwest Territories, NT

One of the presenters has withdrawn. Are we cutting that time frame in half for the remaining presenter, or can we move that presenter to present at the same time as Mr. Li on Wednesday?

4:40 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter

I see a bit of difficulty with that, Mr. McLeod. Michelle Douglas is the former chair of the board of directors with the WE Charity, and Mr. Li is chief financial officer. If it's possible to bring the two of them together for two hours, that's fine with me.

4:40 p.m.

Conservative

Pierre Poilievre Conservative Carleton, ON

No.

4:40 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter

I see perhaps some differences of opinion. Sometimes that's good to have on the floor of the committee.

4:40 p.m.

Liberal

Michael McLeod Liberal Northwest Territories, NT

My point was that I'm trying to avoid the marathon day.

4:40 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter

Yes.

4:40 p.m.

Liberal

Michael McLeod Liberal Northwest Territories, NT

There was a slot with two presenters. Now we have one presenter with the same time frame. Should we shorten the time frame, then?

4:40 p.m.

Conservative

Pierre Poilievre Conservative Carleton, ON

No.

4:40 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter

We could do that, but what I find, from the chair's perspective, is that a second presenter would be five minutes more in terms of the presentation. It really does take about 50 to 55 minutes to give all members, at least eight members and sometimes 10, the opportunity to raise questions, so I think a session shorter than an hour is just not doable.

We'll leave it to see where negotiations can go for Wednesday. I know it creates a complication with another committee, but we'll see.

4:40 p.m.

Conservative

Pierre Poilievre Conservative Carleton, ON

Mr. Chair—

4:40 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter

It's important to try to convince the Kielburgers to come for four hours tomorrow. That would simplify things.

Go ahead, Mr. Poilievre.

4:40 p.m.

Conservative

Pierre Poilievre Conservative Carleton, ON

Listen, we don't want to be unreasonable with the witnesses. I think I speak for my official opposition colleagues in saying that if Mr. Li prefers to come next week, then we would welcome that. If moving him from Tuesday to Wednesday is hard for him to juggle, given that he's a CFO and he has lots of obligations, then out of respect for him, I would be willing to accept his coming sometime next week. We do, as the opposition, offer that olive branch. I don't know if there are others who would want to chime in on that point, but we want to offer that.

4:40 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter

Okay. The clerk has that information. I think it's preferable to meet as soon as we can, but okay.

Where does that leave us, now? You were suggesting some other witnesses, I believe, Mr. Poilievre.

4:45 p.m.

Conservative

Pierre Poilievre Conservative Carleton, ON

Yes.

4:45 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter

We have the Prime Minister and his chief of staff, who are in the original motion. We have Michelle Douglas, who is in the original request. Where are we at?

4:45 p.m.

Conservative

Pierre Poilievre Conservative Carleton, ON

I have another motion that I will—

4:45 p.m.

The Clerk

Sorry, Mr. Poilievre—

4:45 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter

Go ahead, Madam Clerk.

4:45 p.m.

The Clerk

Sorry, but before we get going, I just want to mention that the ethics committee has not yet scheduled its meeting for Thursday. It will adjust to make sure we're not meeting at the same time as it is, just for members who've had concerns about that.

I also just want clarification. Technically the motion regarding Mr. Li wasn't officially moved. We discussed it, but I would like to include something in the minutes. Is there general...?