Foreign Affairs Committee on Nov. 27th, 2007

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

Shall the bill carry?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

On division.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

It is carried on division.

Shall I report the bill to the House?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

Well, in the spirit of working together.... It's a wonderful thing, Mr. Wilfert.

Mr. Wilfert has asked us to look at his motion quickly. I know others have meetings at one o'clock.

[Bryon Wilfert, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

Right.

The first one, Mr. Chairman, we can deal with pretty expeditiously:

That pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) the committee invites the responsible minister and appropriate senior officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Canadian International Development Agency, and other relevant departments to discuss the current crisis in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Could you repeat that, Mr. Wilfert?

[Bryon Wilfert, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

You should have it in front of you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

What do you need translation for?

[Bryon Wilfert, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

I would move that.

[Deepak Obhrai, Conservative, Calgary East, AB]

Where is it?

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

That pursuant to Standing Order 108(2)—

[Deepak Obhrai, Conservative, Calgary East, AB]

I have to get my propaganda ready.

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Are we in camera?

[An hon. member]

No, we aren't.

[Deepak Obhrai, Conservative, Calgary East, AB]

Hang in tough there.

[Bryon Wilfert, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

It's the first motion under committee business.

[Deepak Obhrai, Conservative, Calgary East, AB]

I told you, I have to get my guns ready.

[Bryon Wilfert, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

In the spirit of consensus—

[Deepak Obhrai, Conservative, Calgary East, AB]

What consensus? How would I consent with the Liberals? What are you talking about?

[Bryon Wilfert, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

It's not a study; it's simply an update on the current crisis.

[Deepak Obhrai, Conservative, Calgary East, AB]

Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

Yes, Mr. Obhrai.

[Deepak Obhrai, Conservative, Calgary East, AB]

Thank you very much.

The government's response to this is that we do not have much difficulty in light of the situation of what is happening in Pakistan. I think it's good to look at this and see what we can do regarding the current crisis in Pakistan. However, we have some small difficulties here with reference to the ministers appearing.

What we would ask Mr. Wilfert is if he is willing to have a friendly amendment, meaning that instead of the minister we would ask the appropriate senior officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade to come and do the same thing. Ultimately, the response would be the same. There would be no difference from what he is doing. All we are saying is that due to the unavailability and scheduling of the ministers and considering the fact that the situation in Pakistan is so fluid and happening so fast, we can't wait too long for the minister to come.

If he's agreeable to the friendly amendment, we could just say “senior officials”.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

Mr. Obhrai, thank you.

Just looking at it from the perspective of a committee, we're looking at timelines. If this motion is to do it before Christmas—