Foreign Affairs Committee on March 4th, 2009

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

Your steering committee met yesterday, Tuesday, March 3, to consider the business of the committee. Its first recommendation was that the committee travel to Washington, D.C., from April 19 to 22, in relation to its study reviewing the key elements of Canadian foreign policy, to meet with American senators and congressmen and other relevant people to discuss issues of common interest. This will not be during a break week; it will be while Parliament is sitting.

First of all, maybe we'll just open this up on that point. We have to go to the video conference at 4:30, so if we can, let's try to keep our comments very quick.

Mr. Abbott, and Mr. Crête.

[Jim Abbott, Conservative, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

I wanted to make a quick comment about using our member of Parliament travel points. I disagree with that as a matter of principle; I always have since I've been a part of committees. I believe that committee expenses should be committee expenses. If this trip is worthwhile—and I support the trip and I believe it's worthwhile—and there's an expense from our going, then this committee should be prepared to have that expense as part of our record.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

Yes, we had a little bit of a discussion on this at our committee meeting. We remind each one of you that you have your point system, but you also have four points that can only be used for Washington.

[Jim Abbott, Conservative, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

I understand that.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

All right. So the feeling was that most people had not used up those points, and consequently, that was the recommendation they had.

Mr. Crête, then Mr. Obhrai.

[Paul Crête, Bloc, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

I simply wanted to move the adoption of the motions.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

The whole report?

[Paul Crête, Bloc, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

It can be the whole report, I don't object to that. However, if you want to deal with the motions one at a time, we can proceed in that fashion. We can certainly vote on the first two, which deal with Washington, and discuss Mr. Abbott's matter, but I believe the first motion is the trip itself. We can decide on the first. I do not know if you intended to adopt the entire report or to proceed one motion at a time. If you want to adopt the entire report, we can look at all issues and then vote.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

All right, we can do that. I'll accept that. I'll read through the rest of the report and then we'll accept the report. We can discuss—

[Deepak Obhrai, Conservative, Calgary East, AB]

We can read the report.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

Okay, so have you all had the opportunity to do that?

Some of you have not had the opportunity, as you've just received the report.

[Deepak Obhrai, Conservative, Calgary East, AB]

You don't have to read all of this.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

Take one minute, then, to go through the report.

Mr. Crête has moved that we accept the report. Do we have a seconder for that?

[Deepak Obhrai, Conservative, Calgary East, AB]

On a point of clarification, will the budget be a separate item that we work on?

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

Yes.

My intent is that we have a seconder for the report, and then we'll have debate on it.

[Jim Abbott, Conservative, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

What does it mean to accept the report? What does that word mean?

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

We accept the recommendations within the report. We have a motion here that was brought forward to do that. I need a seconder on this.

Mr. Patry seconds it.

We'll open debate on any part of the report. I would like to keep it confined point by point, so we aren't running from one point to another, but Mr. Abbott has brought up the question of the travel points.

Mr. Patry.

[Bernard Patry, Liberal, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

Yes, but the travel point is not in the report. It's something different, somebody said.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

No, it's in the report at number two.

[Bernard Patry, Liberal, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

Okay. On the travel points, the only problem you're going to face as the chair--and it's quite simple--is that the committee was giving us the budget. We will not accept going to Washington without raising our points. We are going to be dismissed over there; there's no doubt about it in my mind. That's the idea. That's why we accept this, but it's always like this.

I don't want to say that this committee is mainly wrong, but the Conservatives have the majority on this committee, and they decided in the previous Parliament that if we don't use the points to go to Washington, we're not travelling, period. We're not going to get any spending for this.

Do you want to hear my other comments?

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

Yes, go ahead.

[Bernard Patry, Liberal, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

My other comments concern the Bloc and item number five. We decided in the steering committee that the Bloc will be entitled to change the review of key elements in Africa just to go for the Great Lakes. You have another motion, but this is to replace that motion with the other motion of the Bloc for the Great Lakes inside of Africa. That's all.

[Paul Crête, Bloc, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

Yes.

[Bernard Patry, Liberal, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

You could make an amendment, yes.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

All right.

Mr. Dewar.