Fisheries Committee on Nov. 14th, 2007

[Peter Stoffer, NDP, Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS]

Hold on. I would change that to read “a member of the government party”.

[The Chair, Conservative, Fabian Manning]

All right.

Is everybody clear?

Could we have a mover for that motion?

[Ken Epp, Conservative, Edmonton—Sherwood Park, AB]

I so move.

[The Chair, Conservative, Fabian Manning]

So moved by Mr. Epp.

Is there a seconder?

[Gerry Byrne, Liberal, Humber—St. Barbe—Baie Verte, NL]

I don't think we need a seconder.

(Motion agreed to) [See Minutes of Proceedings]

[The Chair, Conservative, Fabian Manning]

We'll go to the motion on reduced quorum: that the chair be authorized to hold meetings to receive evidence and to have that evidence printed when a quorum is not present, provided that at least three members are present, including one member of the opposition.

[Gerry Byrne, Liberal, Humber—St. Barbe—Baie Verte, NL]

I so move.

[The Chair, Conservative, Fabian Manning]

So moved by Mr. Byrne.

[Mike Allen, Conservative, Tobique—Mactaquac, NB]

I'd like to make an amendment, Mr. Chair.

What I would suggest, in keeping with the consistency of the previous motion, is that we also include that three members be present, including one member from the opposition and one from government.

[Ken Epp, Conservative, Edmonton—Sherwood Park, AB]

That's very astute.

[The Chair, Conservative, Fabian Manning]

Are there any comments on that?

Go ahead, Mr. Byrne.

[Gerry Byrne, Liberal, Humber—St. Barbe—Baie Verte, NL]

The requirement for the calling of the meeting would be the presence of the chair, which obviously would have to be a member of the government, so therefore I would argue—

[Ken Epp, Conservative, Edmonton—Sherwood Park, AB]

Or in his absence, one of the vice-chairs.

[Gerry Byrne, Liberal, Humber—St. Barbe—Baie Verte, NL]

Chair or vice-chair.

[The Chair, Conservative, Fabian Manning]

This is true, Ken. You've caught me.

[Yvon Lévesque, Bloc, Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC]

In the motion that is before us, is quorum two people?

[The Chair, Conservative, Fabian Manning]

No, a quorum is three: “provided that at least three members are present”. This is a reduced quorum.

Go ahead, Mr. Epp.

[Ken Epp, Conservative, Edmonton—Sherwood Park, AB]

Quite clearly, this is a reduced quorum just for hearing witnesses. You cannot conduct normal business—

[The Chair, Conservative, Fabian Manning]

No, just to gather evidence.

[Ken Epp, Conservative, Edmonton—Sherwood Park, AB]

It's just for gathering evidence. It just simply says, the way the motion is worded, that there must be at least three members of the committee present in order to hear it, and of those at least one must be from the opposition and one must be from the government side. It's totally clear.

[The Chair, Conservative, Fabian Manning]

Mr. Stoffer.

[Peter Stoffer, NDP, Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS]

I was wondering if Stephen could advise us on what other committees do in this particular case and what examples we can follow from.

[The Clerk]

Mr. Chairman, I think that in most cases this question has not been brought up. It's usually just a member of the opposition, I thin. This is just historically.

[Peter Stoffer, NDP, Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS]

So what is the makeup of that reduced quorum generally, in your view?

[The Clerk]

Usually the makeup of the reduced quorum is the chair, who is usually from the government party, but not necessarily, depending on the meeting. Usually it's at least a member from the government party and a member from the opposition. But unless the motion is clear, any combination is possible.