Fisheries Committee on Feb. 1st, 2022

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

I believe the clerk corrected us in the—

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

Well, I agree with Mr. Morrissey. It sure looks to me like the first two paragraphs are looking for a new study.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

Yes. My understanding is it's only on paper and sometimes what we have on paper is not what's actually happening. The clerk is telling me that in order to retable a study, it has to look like we actually did a study. Whether that rule will change somewhere along the way or whatever, we're only following the rules set down by the House. If this is the way it has to be done, if Ms. Barron was told the way to ask for this study to be re-presented in the House, she has done exactly that, from what the clerk is telling me, and that's what has to be done.

The ones that were done previously, that we did when we didn't know they had to be done this way, will be dealt with in the same way. I think the committee would agree that we'll put the word “study” in place, in front of all of those as well so that we can re-present them, if that was the intent of the committee.

Yes, Mr. Arnold.

[Mel Arnold, Conservative, North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Could we recess for two minutes to consult on this?

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

Yes.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

We're back.

Mr. Arnold, go ahead.

[Mel Arnold, Conservative, North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I've spoken to Ms. Barron and she has no intention of this being a long study. She's quite open to having a time frame put on this. I would propose that the motion be amended to “That the committee undertake a study of not more than 30 minutes of the state of Pacific salmon.”

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

It's your turn, Ms. Barron.

[Lisa Marie Barron, NDP, Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC]

Thank you.

In response to the amendment, I'm happy to do what is necessary to have this go forward. It's out of context for me, so I was hoping that somebody might be able to clarify. What is an appropriate amount of time for something like this? I wouldn't anticipate that it would even require half an hour to bring forward a report. I just wanted to confirm, due to being new to this committee, that it is not an unrealistic expectation to set that timeline attached to this motion. I don't want to set the motion up for failure.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

I somewhat agree with your statement. As the clerk just explained, we don't need to recreate another study. It's just that the wording you used may leave the impression that we're doing another study. The clerk has stated that isn't the intent of what you read out; you're doing exactly what was suggested. We don't need a time frame from anyone to say we'll have a five-minute study or 30-minute study or an hour.

Madame Desbiens, do you have your hand up?

[Caroline Desbiens, Bloc, Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d’Orléans—Charlevoix, QC]

Yes, thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

I would just like to know if we have access to this report. Has it been published and tabled? Can we obtain it?

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

Yes, I think the report is from 43-2 and it was tabled in the House. I think it was Mr. Hardie who tabled it, and I don't know whether or not there was an official response back, because, of course, Parliament was dissolved.

That, basically, is all it's asking—that we have a chance to retable it in the House and get an official government response to the actual study. I do agree with Ms. Barron that there was a lot of time spent on it. It was a pretty detailed study, and well participated in, and a good report at the end of the day.

Yes, that can be tabled and we will now deal with any debate or question for Mr. Arnold and his proposed amendment.

All right, Mr. Morrissey, go ahead.

[Bobby Morrissey, Liberal, Egmont, PE]

Could you clarify what it is we're voting on?

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

I'll ask Mr. Arnold to read it out again and if he has a short explanation, to do that as well.

Go ahead, Mr. Arnold.

[Mel Arnold, Conservative, North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC]

Mr. Chair, I'll just withdraw my amendment and we can move directly to voting on the motion.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

All right. We'll go to a vote and the motion by Ms. Barron. I'm sure everybody has their copy now in both official languages.

(Motion agreed to: yeas 11; nays 0)

The motion is carried. Obviously, let that be a lesson to everyone. If they want to get a motion carried unanimously, make sure it's a little bit confusing and everybody will just say yea.

Yes, we have Mr. Perkins.

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

I'm sure this won't be repeated the exact same way I did it last time, but I'll do my best.

[Caroline Desbiens, Bloc, Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d’Orléans—Charlevoix, QC]

There was some discussion earlier about what Mr. Perkins was proposing for the way forward.

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

I'd like to move:

That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), and following the study on Mr. Arnold's motion with regard to science and DFO, the committee conduct the following studies, in the following order, at dates to be determined in the future: the study by pinnipeds proposed by Mr. Small; the study on corporate concentration and foreign ownership proposed by Madame Desbiens; the study on IUU proposed by Mr. Zimmer; the study on safety at sea proposed by myself and Mr. Perkins; and then finally the study on small craft harbours proposed by Madame Desbiens.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

Mr. Zimmer.

[Bob Zimmer, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies, BC]

I support the motion. Just for clarity for me and for us, I think I understand that we might not know the exact date or even month that a study starts or when it finishes, but I think we still need to hear from the clerk on what she has in her sequence. Just for those of us who have seen our motions passed in committee, it would give us a bit of confidence that they're on record and part of the schedule, but again with some of those details forthcoming. It would just give us confidence that they've been heard.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

Okay, perhaps I could make a suggestion. Could we ask maybe the clerk to provide us, in an email, a list of the studies that are scheduled to start at certain dates or have so many meetings? Then at the end of that, don't attach dates to Mr. Perkins's motion, but just list the studies in the order that they will be done on our agenda as we see fit as a committee to fit them in along the way.

[Bob Zimmer, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies, BC]

I think that's what we're looking for, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

Okay. I thought if the clerk just read it out now, all of us still wouldn't get it, and I'm probably the one who wouldn't get it. But at least, then, by getting it in an email, if we want to print it off or if we want to pin it up on a wall somewhere, we have it, and we can hold the committee to it as best we can.

Is that all right?

Madame Desbiens.

[Caroline Desbiens, Bloc, Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d’Orléans—Charlevoix, QC]

My microphone didn't open at the right time. It is open when it should be closed and it is closed when it should be open. I'm sorry, Mr. Chair.

I might have suggested an amendment to Mr. Perkins' proposal, but I no longer intend to.