Finance Committee on June 8th, 2026

[Mike Lake, Conservative, Leduc—Wetaskiwin, AB]

I am sensing that some are reconsidering positions over there. As we have the conversation a bit longer, I feel like we might see some movement there. In my experience, as people have better conversations, sometimes people can be persuaded to take positions that would reflect more common sense. Hopefully, we'll see that in this discussion, because I don't agree that this conversation is irrelevant. I don't agree that the conversation around inflation is irrelevant to this conversation.

I think the bells are ringing.

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

The bells are ringing. Do we have unanimous consent to continue for the next 15 minutes?

[Some hon. members]

No.

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

The meeting is suspended.

[The meeting was suspended at 8:18 p.m., Tuesday, June 9]

[The meeting resumed at 7:37 a.m., Wednesday, June 10]

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

Good morning, colleagues.

We are returning to subamendment seven of CPC-13.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Clarke, ON]

I have a point of order.

I understand that the officials are having difficulty getting through security. Since one of the critical elements of this review is to discuss this with the officials, I don't believe we should start until we have the officials.

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

Do you have questions for the officials?

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Clarke, ON]

Yes.

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

Okay.

How about we continue on subamendment seven, and then when officials...or could we park this? Then, if you have particular questions, we could move on to the next and we'll stand that clause. How does that sound, Mr. Lawrence?

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Clarke, ON]

It's not satisfactory, Madam Chair, because I have questions throughout for officials. My understanding is that the officials should be here. I believe that's part of the process, and I wouldn't want this process to go incorrectly.

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

That's cute. Thank you for sharing that.

I'm going to ask for unanimous consent to stand CPC-13, new clause 43.1, and to move on to clause 44. If it's the case that you have questions on that one as well, we can stand that.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Clarke, ON]

No, I believe that we should move appropriately, which is to have all of the officials for all of the clauses.

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

Do we have unanimous consent to stand new clause 43.1?

[Some hon. members]

No.

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

We will take a brief suspension and return once the officials are here.

Actually, we have a number of officials in the room, and I think we have some online as well.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Clarke, ON]

Do we have them all?

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

We don't have all of them, but they are coming in. Is there one in particular you'd like to ask a question? We can check to see if they're here.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Clarke, ON]

Could you provide me with the roster of officials we're supposed to have and the ones we do have?

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

I think everyone has that. It's been sent out.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Clarke, ON]

Yes, but which officials are actually here of those who are supposed to be here?

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

Can I ask which one you'd like to ask a question of? Then we can confirm.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Clarke, ON]

I would prefer to see who's here and who's not. The conversation, as you know, can be fluid, and questions can come up, Madam Chair. We do have to do things appropriately.

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

Could I ask which official you'd like to ask a question of, Mr. Lawrence?

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Clarke, ON]

As I said, it can be a fluid conversation, and there can be different issues that come up. I would like the full complement here.

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

Sure. I'm just asking if there is a particular official in this moment, because it is 7:30 and we're on hour 19 of this meeting. I'm curious whether you have a particular official you'd like to ask a question of.