Mr. Hardie, go ahead.
Evidence of meeting #2 for Fisheries and Oceans in the 44th 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.
Evidence of meeting #2 for Fisheries and Oceans in the 44th 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.
11:35 a.m.
Liberal
Ken Hardie Liberal Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC
Mr. Chair, in practical terms, we could ask for the first week of February, but if the minister is not available, it won't work.
I don't disagree with Mr. Bachrach or Mr. Perkins that sooner is better in terms of launching the work we're doing here, but to be that definitive in the motion just sets up something that may well not work at all. I think “at their earliest convenience”, as in Mr. Kelloway's amendment, is probably the most appropriate.
11:35 a.m.
Liberal
Mike Kelloway Liberal Cape Breton—Canso, NS
Mr. Chair, for the sake of clarity—and I think that's the optimal word today—I wonder if the clerk could read the amended version again. I was paying attention, but I just need to hear it one more time.
Also, with respect to “the earliest convenience”, ideally this is going to be very soon. As I mentioned in my opening remarks, the minister is eager to sit with the committee to listen to observations, questions and things of that nature. Ideally, it would have been great to have that addressed in my original amendment, but I would say, further to Mr. Hardie's point, that I think the words “earliest convenience” say that, and the minister is committed to getting here as quickly as she can.
I think putting a timeline of February, which is literally in maybe 11 or 12 days, is folly, but I will defer to the wishes of the committee.
11:40 a.m.
Conservative
Rick Perkins Conservative South Shore—St. Margarets, NS
The challenge with Mr. Kelloway's amendment isn't with “the earliest convenience”; the challenge is with supplementary estimates (C) being tabled. That is some ethereal time, but we're not [Technical difficulty—Editor] another study. Unless the government members can share some insight, I don't know when those estimates will be tabled.
I have a problem with regard to the timing mentioned in the amendment.
11:40 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ken McDonald
Thank you, Mr. Perkins.
The clerk is waving to me now, so I will give her the floor.
11:40 a.m.
The Clerk
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Could we suspend for just a moment so I could speak with you, please?
11:40 a.m.
The Clerk
Thank you.
11:45 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ken McDonald
We're back after a very short conversation with the clerk, who wanted to identify some things for me.
I'm going to ask the clerk to clarify the text of the amendment and the subamendment.
Go ahead, Tina.
11:45 a.m.
The Clerk
I'm trying to find the wording from ParlVU, as I don't have it here.
One moment, please. Thank you. I apologize for that.
11:45 a.m.
The Clerk
The amendment as amended by Mr. Arnold reads as follows: “That the committee invite the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard for one hour, and senior officials for two hours, to appear in consideration of the supplementary (C) estimates and the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard's mandate letter, and other matters related to her department, at their earliest convenience.” This is what is on record.
Thank you.
11:45 a.m.
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC
Mr. Chair, I believe there is an error in what the clerk read out. I had removed the reference to “one hour”.
11:45 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ken McDonald
That's not what ParlVU has recorded.
Anyway, there are other hands up ahead of yours, Mr. Arnold. I'll get back to you.
Go ahead, Mr. Bachrach.
11:45 a.m.
NDP
Taylor Bachrach NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Given that we're well into this meeting and we're on the second motion of 14, I wonder whether there might be some way to short-circuit this by talking broadly about the principles that we're trying to achieve here. I think there are very minor areas of disagreement around the definition of the timeline in particular. What we've heard is a desire to have the timeline at “the earliest convenience” and a desire to have it definitively in the first week of February.
Could we strike some sort of compromise and have the timeline set for the end of February? That would both give the minister a bit more time and give more time for the supplementary estimates (C) to be tabled. It wouldn't rush things and put any undue constraints on the minister's schedule.
I'll look to you, Mr. Chair, on this. If we could achieve agreement on the timing, then we would have the whole thing and we could somehow clear the decks to put forward a clearly worded amendment and get this done.
11:45 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ken McDonald
I tend to agree with you, Mr. Bachrach, but in order to change it today, you'd have to make a subamendment to the amendment that's now deemed to be the one that was accepted. If that's what you're saying, we can put that forward as a subamendment and vote on it, and if it's there, it's there. If it gets voted down, it gets voted down. That would be a decision of the members of the committee, not mine.
11:45 a.m.
NDP
Taylor Bachrach NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
Mr. Chair, I don't want to jump ahead, because I believe there is one other matter that was unresolved. That was around one hour versus two hours. If it does please the committee, I would be happy to put forward an additional subamendment changing the timing from “earliest convenience” to “before the end of February”.
11:45 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ken McDonald
Has everybody heard the text of the subamendment?
I see a few hands up. Do people want to speak to the subamendment by Mr. Bachrach?
I see Madame Desbiens.
11:45 a.m.
Bloc
Caroline Desbiens Bloc Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île dOrléans—Charlevoix, QC
Mr. Chair, I'd like to bring to your attention the fact that we don't know when the Supplementary Estimates (C) will be tabled. This factor could influence our decision, Mr. Chair.
11:50 a.m.
Liberal
Mike Kelloway Liberal Cape Breton—Canso, NS
Very quickly, I appreciate the intervention by MP Bachrach in terms of the timeline of the end of February. I think it addresses one of the main obstacles here.
I appreciate the intervention. Thank you.