Foreign Affairs Committee on Dec. 4th, 2007

[Bryon Wilfert, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

No, I just move it.

[Deepak Obhrai, Conservative, Calgary East, AB]

You don't want to speak?

[Bryon Wilfert, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

I'm in favour.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

Mr. Obhrai, did you have a comment?

[Deepak Obhrai, Conservative, Calgary East, AB]

Mr. Chair, we are in favour and we don't see any difficulty with this motion. It deals with the current situation in Somalia. The government will be more than happy to say what is happening in Somalia, and that's fine with the government.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

Thank you, Mr. Obhrai.

Madame St-Hilaire.

[Caroline St-Hilaire, Bloc, Longueuil—Pierre-Boucher, QC]

Mr. Chairman, I would like to move a friendly amendment, if my colleague does not mind, namely that the minister for International Cooperation also appear at the same time, as well as people from CIDA and the Africa Fund.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

Mr. Wilfert, do you accept that as a friendly amendment?

[Bryon Wilfert, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

I think the only thing that will be problematic for the government will be that the word “minister” was included. I don't know why; I just assume that will be a problem.

I accept it as a friendly amendment.

[Deepak Obhrai, Conservative, Calgary East, AB]

We would then have a difficulty because, number one, the minister is coming here. We can't have, as you said, the minister's time schedule is such that....

We're going to get all the briefings that we need here, and the questions can be directed at this thing. But to ask every time that there needs to be the minister here becomes practically impossible, and then it becomes impossible for the government to start supporting this thing. The minister is coming.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

Madame Barbot.

[Vivian Barbot, Bloc, Papineau, QC]

I simply wish to say that the ministers who will be appearing will be dealing with the matter of Afghanistan and that it will already be quite limited. I believe that it is extremely important that they be here specifically to talk about Africa, in order that we have the time to ask appropriate questions.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

All right.

So, how would this read, then:

That pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development call on senior officials and the minister from the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and International Development to provide the Committee with a comprehensive and detailed briefing on the Government's current strategy and involvement in the Horn of Africa, specifically Somalia.

[A voice]

She wants both ministers.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

Both ministers?

Mr. Wilfert.

[Bryon Wilfert, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

Mr. Chair, if we eliminated the term “ministers” and said that if we are not satisfied with the briefing we receive and we then hold it in abeyance, we could then call the minister subsequent to that.

I want to get this on the floor and get this adopted. If we're not satisfied with what we receive, then we can...because I'm not happy, on the record, to have two ministers for an hour each.

We want the Minister of Foreign Affairs for two and the CIDA minister for two, and maybe at that time we can deal with this issue and other issues with the minister, but two hours--

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

I know, Mr. Wilfert, but we've had perhaps nine or ten motions by now calling for the minister on each one. So what are we asking for, two hours...?

[Bryon Wilfert, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

The motion, though, that I put forward--

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

We've also limited ourselves, because of the very aggressive timelines, to have an interim report done--

[Bryon Wilfert, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

Mr. Chairman, on this one I'm being very helpful.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

--or rather a preliminary report.

[Bryon Wilfert, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

I'm just saying afterwards, if we're not satisfied, we can put that in. In the meantime, every time we've asked for the minister, we say and/or. We realize the minister can't come every time, but one way to deal with a lot of these issues is to have the minister for two solid hours to cover a number of topics, which I'm sure would relieve the government of having to talk to us every time about how the minister can't show up, and then we can deal with some of these issues.

So as a courtesy we invite the minister, but what I want and the government wants, obviously, is a briefing on this issue. I'll certainly include CIDA.

Whether Madame St-Hilaire is agreeable to withdraw “minister” but reintroduce it, or have the minister, when she comes...we can address that issue.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

I think one way to do it is not to accept it as a friendly amendment. We can vote on the amendment and then we can vote on yours.

Mr. Obhrai and then Mr. Kramp.

[Deepak Obhrai, Conservative, Calgary East, AB]

Mr. Chair, thank you very much.

The problem we are having here is this minister is coming for everything, which is practically impossible.

Somalia is an important issue to be discussed here. I find it very strange; when the Liberal Party was in government, their ministers would never come the way that motions are being set out here. Now, all of a sudden, everything has to be....

We have said, and I have said it very clearly, that we are willing to support listening about the Horn of Africa, because it's important. The minister is coming, and any questions they have they can ask, but every minute to do that...it's becoming a political hot potato. They're trying to play politics here.

Then the government will try, instead of here you having unanimous consent....

Can I speak, Mr. Wilfert? Can I speak?

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

Go ahead, Mr. Obhrai.