Evidence of meeting #1 for Finance in the 43rd Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was chair.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Karen Vecchio Conservative Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON
Excuse me, Mr. Gerretsen, I was copied on all of those emails. Just to let you know, it was indicated by the clerk that Mr. Steinley would go in for Mr. Poilievre, and that I would for Pat Kelly. Thank you, Mr. Gerretsen.
October 15th, 2020 / 4:45 p.m.
Liberal
Mark Gerretsen Liberal Kingston and the Islands, ON
Ms. Vecchio, you did interrupt me when I was speaking.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter
I assume, Madam Clerk, you have the documentation for Ms. Vecchio and Mr. Steinley.
The Clerk
Yes. I just wanted to verify it, because I see that Mr. Poilievre has logged in. I just wanted to double-check for the status, but I did receive the email.
The Clerk
The question is on the amendment of Mr. Gerretsen.
(Subamendment negatived: nays 6; yeas 5 [See Minutes of Proceedings])
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter
The subamendment is lost. We will turn to the amendment.
Mr. Gerretsen, go ahead.
Liberal
Mark Gerretsen Liberal Kingston and the Islands, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
In listening to the debate on the previous amendment that I had put forward, really the only rationale that I heard for not wanting to proceed with it came from Ms. Jansen when she talked about the amount of work that would be created as a result of this. This was really the only argument that I had heard from opposition MPs as to why we should not proceed.
Conservative
Tamara Jansen Conservative Cloverdale—Langley City, BC
Point of order. Are we now debating what we just finished voting on? How does that work? I don't understand that.
Liberal
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter
We're on the amendment before the subamendment was lost. We're on the amendment itself.
I'm not sure if the list still remains the same, but according to the hands up, the list is Mr. Gerretsen, Mr. Julian, Ms. Dzerowicz and Mr. Fragiskatos. If that list has changed just let me know and we'll go from there.
Mr. Gerretsen, the floor is yours.
Liberal
Mark Gerretsen Liberal Kingston and the Islands, ON
Mr. Chair, if you'll allow me the opportunity, I'm just laying the groundwork for the next part of what I'm going to say, and I'll repeat that. I had started off by saying that Ms. Jansen had raised the point that there was going to be a considerable amount of work done as a result of this amendment. That was really the only point brought forward by the opposition that explained why they would be against a motion that would have brought forward that additional work in analyzing the documents that I had put forward in my previous one.
In that vein, I would like to try this again, and perhaps this time rather than looking for the full, detailed analysis I would like something a little simpler.
Mr. Chair, I would move as an amendment to the amendment that the clerk and the analyst prepare a page annotation, not an entire new analysis as I was previously suggesting, that would enable members and the Canadian public to easily find pages in various versions of the document disclosure request by the Standing Committee on Finance.
What I'm basically looking for in this is the ability to, in a more expeditious fashion, look at the documents and understand what the committee has been provided and what it hasn't, or what's missing, and an easy way to navigate through the documents that we currently don't have.
I'm hoping with this new amendment to the amendment that I'm putting forward that the opposition will look at this as something that does.... I already see some shaking of heads and I find that to be disappointing, but I hope the opposition would look at this as another way of getting the information to the public and to members of this committee, and indeed all parliamentarians, but not by putting in the vast amount of work that Ms. Jansen had pointed out in her comments about why she didn't support the motion.
I'll put that on the floor, Mr. Chair, and hopefully we can all agree that this doesn't require a whole lot of debate, and we can all vote in favour of it. I'm really hoping that we can make sure we have this added to it.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter
If you could read the proposed subamendment fairly slowly so I can make note of it and see if it's in order, then we'll go from there.
Liberal
Mark Gerretsen Liberal Kingston and the Islands, ON
After the existing amendment I would say “and further, that the clerk and analysts prepare a page annotation that enables members and the Canadian public to easily find pages in various versions of the document disclosure requested by the Standing Committee on Finance”.
I have that in French as well if the clerk would like that sent over.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter
You had best send that to the clerk. The subamendment is in order and it is relating to the documents and the original motion.
We will start a new list.
Ms. Jansen, you're first on the list.
Conservative
Tamara Jansen Conservative Cloverdale—Langley City, BC
We now have a subamendment on all of the documents that you just read into the record. I'm shocked. It just further delays this meeting. Let's move on, shall we?
Thank you.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter
Does anyone else want to speak on this subamendment by Mr. Gerretsen?
Ms. Dzerowicz.
Liberal
Julie Dzerowicz Liberal Davenport, ON
I want to state very clearly that I think Mr. Gerretsen proposed an excellent subamendment. I think it's very logical. I think it is good for us to compare and make it easier for us to understand what might be the discrepancies and this provides a nice legend.
To Ms. Jansen's point, this could all be eliminated if the Conservatives withdraw their motion; we could go right to the pre-budget consultation motion that I proposed and we can get right into pre-budget consultations.
Thank you.
Conservative
Tamara Jansen Conservative Cloverdale—Langley City, BC
I want to clarify with the clerk if this would delay the tabling of the point of privilege report. Can they prepare an annotation that doesn't stop you from going on after anything else after the report of privilege is returned to the House?
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter
Is the clerk, or for that matter any of the analysts, in the position to answer that?
Madam Clerk, Brett, or anyone who wants to try to answer that question, please go ahead.
The Clerk
I'm not sure how the committee would like us to to proceed. We don't have the time defined in there.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter
If I have this right, basically, Ms. Jansen, you're wondering how long it would take to prepare a page annotation that would enable members and the public to easily find the pages in the various versions to compare them.