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.

On the agenda

MPs speaking

Also speaking

Clerk of the Committee  Ms. Angela Crandall

3:45 p.m.

Conservative

Deepak Obhrai Conservative Calgary East, AB

I have to make a comment on what--

3:45 p.m.

Liberal

Bob Rae Liberal Toronto Centre, ON

Deepak, you've won. You just want silence to prevail.

3:45 p.m.

Conservative

Deepak Obhrai Conservative Calgary East, AB

No, no. I just want to make a comment, which is not to differ.... I'm not making anything--

3:45 p.m.

Liberal

Bob Rae Liberal Toronto Centre, ON

Don't blow things up.

3:45 p.m.

Conservative

Deepak Obhrai Conservative Calgary East, AB

Let me just put my comment in there for the record, all right? It's for the record, because he wanted to put it on the record.

3:45 p.m.

Liberal

Bernard Patry Liberal Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC

Who's going to read it? Your grandson?

3:45 p.m.

Conservative

Deepak Obhrai Conservative Calgary East, AB

For the record, the Minister of Foreign Affairs had already made the decision previously on whether he was going to issue a travelling document or not. He had already made that statement.

The issue that is coming up now is that the matter went in front of a court, and a court made a decision on that, right? A decision was made by the court. Therefore, at this current given time, the government is bound to what the court said at this current time, which is why the letter came. So I'll make it very clear: the government has to decide what it is going to do with the court decision. That decision has not been made. That is in the letter--not what Mr. Dewar was saying.

So I've made my point clear?

3:45 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Kevin Sorenson

You're on the record. Thank you very much.

Seeing how we are still on committee business, then, you have received or are receiving a report of the steering committee. You can take a look at it. There were two items that I did mention while we were in camera that your steering committee met with regard to on Thursday.

We should also make mention of the fact that our subcommittee appeared before the steering committee and gave us a little bit of a rundown, I guess, on what they'd been studying and what they intend to go to in the fall.

Do I have a motion to accept the steering committee--

3:50 p.m.

Conservative

Deepak Obhrai Conservative Calgary East, AB

I need a point of clarification--

3:50 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Kevin Sorenson

Go ahead.

3:50 p.m.

Conservative

Deepak Obhrai Conservative Calgary East, AB

--because I was on the steering committee.

Point number one, when you say “during future meetings”, what exactly do you mean? Are you saying that we're going to have meetings during the break in the summer?

3:50 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Kevin Sorenson

No. We're saying that, like today, when Abdelrazik wasn't here, that we would continue to finish this report.

3:50 p.m.

Conservative

Deepak Obhrai Conservative Calgary East, AB

But this doesn't mean that we're coming back in the summer?

3:50 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Kevin Sorenson

No, it does not.

3:50 p.m.

Conservative

Jim Abbott Conservative Kootenay—Columbia, BC

Do you want to come back in the summer?

3:50 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Kevin Sorenson

No. But I think if we have a big day today, we can finish this.

3:50 p.m.

Conservative

Deepak Obhrai Conservative Calgary East, AB

No, no. I just want to make sure. That's why I put my hand up.

June 15th, 2009 / 3:50 p.m.

The Clerk

It's just so that we can table it before the summer adjournment.

3:50 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Kevin Sorenson

Yes. The idea is that we try to get this so we can table this before summer adjournment.

3:50 p.m.

Conservative

Deepak Obhrai Conservative Calgary East, AB

Fine. That's all I want to know.

3:50 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Kevin Sorenson

Mr. Pearson moves it.

(Motion agreed to [See Minutes of Proceedings])

All right. We will suspend for one moment so we can go in camera.

[Proceedings continue in camera]