Finance Committee on May 2nd, 2023

Evidence of meeting #87 for Finance in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was ministers.

A video is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

Subject matter of Bill C-47, An Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on March 28, 2023

Committee Business

Also speaking

Graeme Hamilton Director General, Traveller, Commercial and Trade Policy, Canada Border Services Agency

Nicole Thomas Executive Director, Costing, Charging and Transfer Payments, Treasury Board Secretariat

Lindy VanAmburg Director General, Policy and Programs, Dental Care Task Force, Department of Health

Neil Leblanc Director, Canada Pension Plan Policy and Legislation, Income Security and Social Development Branch, Department of Employment and Social Development

Colin Stacey Director General, Air Policy, Department of Transport

Joël Girouard Senior Privy Council Officer, Machinery of Government, Privy Council Office

Benoit Cadieux Director, Policy Analysis and Initiatives, Skills and Employment Branch, Department of Employment and Social Development

Tamara Rudge Director General, Surface Transportation Policy, Department of Transport

Steven Coté Executive Director, Employment Insurance, Skills and Employment Branch, Department of Employment and Social Development

Robert Lalonde Director, Individual Payments and On-Demand Services, Benefits and Integrated Services Branch, Service Canada, Department of Employment and Social Development

Blair Brimmell Head of Section, Climate and Security, Security and Defence Relations, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development

Marcel Turcot Director General, Policy, Strategy and Performance, National Research Council of Canada

Paola Mellow Executive Director, Low Carbon Fuels Division, Department of the Environment

David Chan Acting Director, Asylum Policy, Performance and Governance Division, Department of Citizenship and Immigration

Marie-Josée Langlois Director General, Strategic Policy Branch, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development

Nicole Girard Director General, Citizenship Policy, Department of Citizenship and Immigration

Michelle Mascoll Director General, Resettlement Policy Branch, Department of Citizenship and Immigration

Vincent Millette Director, National Air Services Policy, Department of Transport

Rachel Pereira Director, Democratic Institutions, Privy Council Office

Samir Chhabra Director General, Marketplace Framework Policy Branch, Department of Industry

Alexandre Sacha) Vassiliev (Committee Clerk

Clerk of the Committee Mr. Alexandre Roger

Conservative

Marty Morantz Conservative Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, MB

On that point of order, Mr. Chair.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Peter Fonseca

On that point of order, please go ahead MP Morantz.

Conservative

Marty Morantz Conservative Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, MB

Mr. Chair, with the greatest respect, I think you are in error, as is Mr. Blaikie, in fact. When I examine the main motion, I don't see a referral in the main motion to the committee on fisheries and oceans. I can go through them for you. The first referral is to the committee on transport, infrastructure and communities.

An hon. member

I think the chair said “like fisheries and oceans”.

Conservative

Marty Morantz Conservative Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, MB

The second referral is to human resources, skills and social development and the status of persons with disabilities. The third referral is to the committee on citizenship and immigration. The fourth is the standing committee on health and then there's the standing committee on industry and technology. Then there's the standing committee on defence and then the standing committee on operations and estimates. Then there's natural resources, the standing committee on industry and technology, and the standing committee on environment and sustainable development....

I'm sorry, I think—

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Peter Fonseca

MP Morantz, you're correct. We have 11 committees.

Conservative

Marty Morantz Conservative Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, MB

That's important, because the point was specifically about a referral to the committee on fisheries and oceans. What you said, Mr. Chair, wasn't in here.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Peter Fonseca

Yes. MP Morantz, what we're looking at is within the BIA.

Conservative

Marty Morantz Conservative Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, MB

I don't think this is a valid point of order.

NDP

Daniel Blaikie NDP Elmwood—Transcona, MB

I'm happy to continue on with respect to this point of order.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Peter Fonseca

Yes, please do.

NDP

Daniel Blaikie NDP Elmwood—Transcona, MB

I think Mr. Morantz is doing what I didn't want to do, because I wanted to be polite to his colleague. I think he's pointing out that there's actually not a lot of substantive content with respect to—

Conservative

Philip Lawrence Conservative Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON

Excuse me. On a point of order, Mr. Chair, we—

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Peter Fonseca

MP Blaikie has the floor.

Go ahead, MP Blaikie.

Conservative

Philip Lawrence Conservative Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON

We just want to get this thing going.

NDP

Daniel Blaikie NDP Elmwood—Transcona, MB

I'm not done. There's actually not a lot of substantive content with respect to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in the BIA, and to the extent that there is—because there are mentions—it's under the Canada Shipping Act, and it has more to do with the problem of abandoned vessels than anything else. So that is being referred to the transport committee.

Now, Mr. Morantz thinks that would be better placed at the committee for fisheries and oceans. Of course, that's an amendment we could consider as a committee. I would invite him to prepare that amendment and to move it. Then I'd be very happy to consider that.

But as I was saying, I was trying to be polite and to recognize that often when members choose to filibuster, they take some liberties in terms of relevance. But if Mr. Morantz wants to call out his colleague for relevance, I'm not going to get in his way. I was just trying to be more polite than that.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Peter Fonseca

MP Morantz, do you want to call on relevance? Because there is not much here in terms of what MP Perkins is talking about.

Conservative

Marty Morantz Conservative Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, MB

I think it needed to be said, Mr. Chair. You said yourself that there was a referral to the committee on fisheries and oceans. I'm simply recounting the text of the motion, and that referral is absent from the motion. So I'm just—

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Peter Fonseca

There's not much relevance here—

Conservative

Marty Morantz Conservative Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, MB

I was speaking to the point of order itself.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Peter Fonseca

And it wasn't that there wasn't any relevance—or very little relevance—to what MP Perkins was talking about with regard to the BIA.

Conservative

Marty Morantz Conservative Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, MB

Actually, I find my colleague's statement very relevant to the BIA, and I'd like for him to continue as soon as you rule on this point of order.

May 4th, 2023 / 11:25 a.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Peter Fonseca

I do have another hand up.

MP Dzerowicz, on this point of order.

Liberal

Julie Dzerowicz Liberal Davenport, ON

Just on this point of order, I agree with my colleague Mr. Blaikie. Mr. Chair, you rightly pointed out that there is a list of committees in the motion. The reason there's not a fisheries committee being assigned to is because there's no measure relating to fisheries in the bill. That's why there's nothing that mentions that in the motion.

I wanted to mention that and that I agree with Mr. Blaikie. If we can maybe keep the soliloquies and the speeches related to the bill at hand, that would be appreciated.

Thank you.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Peter Fonseca

Thank you, MP Dzerowicz. It goes to relevance.

Is this on the same point of order, MP Perkins?