Evidence of meeting #27 for Foreign Affairs and International Development in the 40th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was business.
A recording is available from Parliament.
3:40 p.m.
Conservative
Deepak Obhrai Conservative Calgary East, AB
Let me challenge that. This is not coming out of committee business. This was not on the agenda for committee business, right?
3:40 p.m.
Conservative
Deepak Obhrai Conservative Calgary East, AB
So therefore I disagree with the fact that this is committee business. This was just brought in by Mr. Dewar, who was asking you to go public from in camera for him to say that.
3:40 p.m.
Conservative
Deepak Obhrai Conservative Calgary East, AB
Therefore, we cannot suddenly say that this is committee business and therefore it is all right for him. I would rather--
3:40 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Kevin Sorenson
Do you mean was it on the schedule of committee business? No, it was not on the schedule.
3:40 p.m.
NDP
Paul Dewar NDP Ottawa Centre, ON
There are two things. One is that notwithstanding that, there was agreement to go into committee business. You allowed that. The fact is that I was responding to a letter that comes out of committee business. It's straightforward.
I appreciate that you might be frustrated with that, Chair, but the fact of the matter is—
3:40 p.m.
Conservative
3:40 p.m.
NDP
Paul Dewar NDP Ottawa Centre, ON
It's simple. We went into committee business, I was responding to the letter that we received coming out of committee business, and I put a motion forward. It's not that complicated. And I would like to get on with the report. I've just left the motion there.
3:40 p.m.
Conservative
Jim Abbott Conservative Kootenay—Columbia, BC
Mr. Chair, I respectfully disagree with Mr. Dewar, very simply because this letter was something given to the committee, but it was not the day's committee business, if we take a look at the orders of the day, in camera. I'm not interested in filibustering. If I were, I'd read the orders of the day.
The point is that this was information given to us that was received on Friday and translated. It was given to us at the first possible moment, but it is not committee business in the sense of committee business being the orders of the day today.
If I understand the advice you've been receiving from the clerk, the committee business is to the orders of the day that we are working on, on the given day, and then a motion can flow to those orders of the day. That is committee business.
In the vernacular, or in the looser term that Mr. Dewar is using, yes, this is committee business in the sense that it has been business that the committee has been dealing with, but it is not today's committee business. It is not the orders of the day.
3:45 p.m.
Conservative
3:45 p.m.
NDP
Paul Dewar NDP Ottawa Centre, ON
If I may, on a point of order, it's actually the subject of discussion. It's the criteria that need to be entered in as well; it's not just committee business. We're on the subject of discussion.
3:45 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Kevin Sorenson
Yes. I mean, this is a serious thing. I asked if a motion like this would be in order, and I was told no. So we went into committee business, and now it seems like, you know....
Go ahead.
June 15th, 2009 / 3:45 p.m.
The Clerk
The motion was that the committee sit in public, and then the consensus seemed to be that you were going to talk about committee business. So after--
3:45 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Kevin Sorenson
Well, committee business, but we have a steering committee report. We wanted to discuss the fact that today Abdelrazik was to appear. But a motion coming out of that.... I mean, the motion that we wanted to go from in camera into committee business is understandable. We have to be able to accept that motion, but to accept another motion.... That's why we put in the 48-hour rule. Yes, I need a motion to go public from in camera. That's what we did. I thought we were fairly clear that once we're in committee business, for motions that aren't on the schedule, that's why we have the 48-hour guideline here.
Mr. Obhrai.
3:45 p.m.
Conservative
Deepak Obhrai Conservative Calgary East, AB
Mr. Chair, while we want to see Mr. Dewar play all these things here, my understanding at the time we agreed to the motion that we come out of in camera was that he wanted to go on the record to put the thing down. I understand very clearly that in his arguments he was not making it clear at that given time that he would be putting forward a motion.
Now, we do not mind if, because of that thing, he was going to put an argument and wanted to say on the record why he was doing that. But all of a sudden, as is his normal practice of playing politics and all these things on this issue, he turns it around and suddenly now we have a motion that goes against—
3:45 p.m.
An hon. member
[ Inaudible--Editor]
3:45 p.m.
Conservative
3:45 p.m.
NDP
Paul Dewar NDP Ottawa Centre, ON
I'm going to help you here, on a point of order, Mr. Chair.
Look, I know that if I had told you I was putting a motion forward, we wouldn't have been able to go from in camera to public. But look, for the purposes of moving forward and keeping things going, I won't go any further with this.
But I want to note that, first, it's allowed in this place--and it has been done in different ways--to enter a motion when you're in committee business. The subject was Mr. Abdelrazik. I believe that if you have the floor, you can introduce a motion. I will, however, withdraw at this point. I've read the letter into the record and we can go back to the report.
Thank you.