Evidence of meeting #6 for Fisheries and Oceans in the 43rd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was amendment.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Noon
Bloc
Marilène Gill Bloc Manicouagan, QC
I have a question about the motion. When we say twice, do we mean twice for four hours or twice for two hours?
Right now, when we are sitting, a full week is four hours.
Noon
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ken McDonald
Understood. I believe each committee meeting, unless we extend it, is for two hours. I think by Mr. Johns' motion, that would be four hours in July and four hours in August.
Is that the understanding of your motion, Mr. Johns?
Noon
Liberal
Noon
Liberal
Ken Hardie Liberal Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC
Mr. Chair, my concern is the continuity of our discussions and our hearings. Meeting once a month leaves far too long a gap, I think, between sessions.
I would propose amending Mr. Johns' motion to say that the committee meet four times per month in July and four times per month in August for two hours each meeting.
Noon
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC
Mr. Chair, I also agree that once per month isn't enough, and two times per month isn't enough. I would tend to agree with Mr. Hardie on four times for July and four times for August—a minimum of four times for July and four times for August. We can add meetings if we choose to as a committee, but I would agree with scheduling a minimum of four times per month.
I'm not sure if we're on the amendment by Mr. Hardie now. If we are, perhaps we could put the word “minimum” in his amendment, changing it to “a minimum of four times per month in July and four times per month in August”.
Noon
Liberal
Noon
Bloc
Marilène Gill Bloc Manicouagan, QC
My question is still about the periods not covered, that is, the end of June and the month of September.
Theoretically, Parliament resumes on September 21. Should we give ourselves some leeway to decide in August whether to extend the schedule until the House resumes? Is there a gap between June 19 and June 30, about two weeks, where we will have no committee meetings?
12:05 p.m.
Liberal
Jaime Battiste Liberal Sydney—Victoria, NS
Yes. I just want to be clear. I had said earlier that I would support Mr. Johns' motion for two meetings per month, and I'll stick with that. I think that's an appropriate time for us to get things done.
12:05 p.m.
Liberal
Bobby Morrissey Liberal Egmont, PE
Mr. Chair, I agree with Mr. Battiste. Mr. Johns' motion gives us that flexibility. The committee can change its direction at any time. At this time it would appear that the timelines are adequate in Mr. Johns' motion.
12:05 p.m.
Liberal
Serge Cormier Liberal Acadie—Bathurst, NB
Yes. I am in favour of Mr. Johns' motion too.
It will still give us plenty of time to study various matters. I repeat that I agree the minister should be present at the committee, but we also need to have representatives from the industry and the various organizations come before us so that they can present all the difficulties they are currently experiencing due to COVID-19.
12:05 p.m.
Liberal
Ken Hardie Liberal Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC
Mr. Chair, I'm going to withdraw my motion. Looking at the calendar and looking at the rhythm of what we're up to here, I think that I'm more in support of Mr. Johns' motion.
(Amendment withdrawn)
12:05 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ken McDonald
Your amendment is withdrawn.
We're now back to the original motion of Mr. Johns. Is there any further discussion on Mr. Johns' motion?
Mel.
12:05 p.m.
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC
Again, I don't believe once per month is sufficient for what this committee should be dealing with in these unprecedented times.
First of all, I would like to seek clarification. We received a draft calendar which showed meetings twice a week through to the end of June, but I don't know whether that was actually adopted and if it's only the meetings up until June 19, when the House would normally recess.
How many meetings are scheduled between now and the end of June, before we move further on this?
12:05 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ken McDonald
Nancy, do you want to clarify that? I thought it was twice a week in June.
12:05 p.m.
The Clerk
Yes, I can certainly clarify that.
A calendar was put out, and there was an agreement by all the whips of all the recognized parties on the committee that the committee will meet twice this week, twice next week and twice the week after, for a total of six meetings in June. This is what has been agreed to by the whips at this time, and we are informed that it could be modified. Specifically, the dates and times could be modified, but as of now, the calendar that you saw is what was agreed to by the whips of all parties.
12:05 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ken McDonald
Thank you, Nancy.
Mel, I think you said once a month, and to your point, I believe Mr. Johns' motion is to meet twice a month. It's not once a month; it's twice a month in the original motion.
Madam Gill.
12:05 p.m.
Bloc
Marilène Gill Bloc Manicouagan, QC
May I still move an amendment to Mr. Johns' motion? Yes.
It is related to the question I asked earlier. Mr. Johns' motion suggested that we meet once every two weeks. In my opinion, four hours a month is very little. We agree that eight hours is a normal workday for the general public. I think that eight hours a month would not be too much to ask of the committee members.
I therefore propose that the committee meet every two weeks, but for two two-hour periods, as committees ordinarily do. For the entire summer, this would be equivalent to two days for the months of July and August. So I would propose that we meet twice a month, but for periods of four hours rather than two hours.
12:05 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ken McDonald
Madam Gill, if I heard you correctly, you would propose that if we're meeting twice per month, you would amend the motion to add “to meet for four hours for each of those meetings”.
