Evidence of meeting #1 for Government Operations and Estimates in the 39th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was going.
9:05 a.m.
The Clerk of the Committee Ms. Bibiane Ouellette
Honourable members of the committee,
I see a quorum.
We can now proceed to the election of the chair.
I am ready to hear motions for the position of chairman.
Mr. Bonin.
9:05 a.m.
The Clerk
Are there any other nominations?
(Motion agreed to)
Madame Marleau is duly elected chair of the committee.
We will now move on to the election of the two vice-chairs.
Since she is not chairing the election, the chair can exercise her right to vote for the vice-chairs.
I am now prepared to receive motions for the first vice-chair.
Mr. Wallace.
9:05 a.m.
The Clerk
Are there any other motions?
(Motion agreed to)
Mr. Kramp is duly elected vice-chair of the committee.
I am now prepared to receive motions for the second vice-chair.
Ms. Thibault.
9:05 a.m.
Bloc
Louise Thibault Bloc Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC
I nominate Ms. Nash from the New Democratic Party for the position of second vice-chair.
9:05 a.m.
The Clerk
Are there any other nominations?
(Motion agreed to)
Ms. Nash is duly elected second vice-chair of the committee.
I would now invite Ms. Marleau to take the chair.
9:05 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Diane Marleau
Thank you for your support. It was a nice, easy election. I've had only one easier than that before. A number of years ago I sat on the foreign affairs committee, and I couldn't make the meeting, and I was elected vice-chair. In that case, it was easier than this one, but thank you.
There are a number of things we can deal with immediately. For instance, we have a number of routine proceedings that we can go through right now to get them out of the way.
If everybody is agreeable, we'll distribute all of the routine motions, and you can look at them, and we can pass them now or we can discuss them. It's totally up to you. D'accord? You'll see they deal with the analyst and subcommittees and all the rest of it.
Perhaps we can look at the first motion, to retain the services of the analyst from the Library of Parliament.
9:10 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Diane Marleau
The analyst is the same one, I believe, we had last time.
We are very pleased to have once more at our disposal the services of our analyst. He did an excellent job last time. Welcome. Perhaps you could introduce yourself.
9:10 a.m.
Philippe Le Goff Committee Researcher
Good morning.
I'm Philippe Le Goff, from the Library of Parliament. I'm with the economic division.
I have been with the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates for four years, which means that I have a certain amount of experience. Please don't hesitate to ask me any questions you may have.
With me is my colleague Guy Beaumier.
9:10 a.m.
Guy Beaumier Committee Researcher
My name is Guy Beaumier and I have been working on the Hill for 26 years. I sometimes work for the House of Commons and sometimes for the Senate. I have also work for the Committee on Industry, the Senate National Finance Committee, the Committee on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development, the Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development, and for the Finance Committee. It's my first time with this committee, but I think I'm up to the task. Thank you.
9:10 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Diane Marleau
Thank you.
The next item concerns the subcommittee on agenda and procedure. In the past, we have had a representative of each party. We can sit down and discuss the agenda, the kinds of things that we might want to have.
I think perhaps next Tuesday we'll have a meeting of the committee as a whole to discuss the agenda and future work so that we can get going more quickly. I find that if you have a subcommittee at first, you have to wait for the subcommittee to meet, and you can't meet from now until Tuesday. I'd like us to get going as quickly as possible.
The only question I was asked was from Madame Thibault.
She wanted to know whether the whole committee could sit in camera.
I think it is important that we be able to openly discuss the issues we wish to examine. We will not always agree and it is important that we be able to have discussions without being afraid of being caught unawares after we leave a meeting.
Do you agree?
9:10 a.m.
Liberal
Raymond Bonin Liberal Nickel Belt, ON
Do we have to adopt the motion to sit in camera on Tuesday? No?
9:10 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Diane Marleau
No.
Would you like a subcommittee on agenda and procedure? As you can see, it's composed of the chair, two vice-chairs, and a member of the other opposition party, so everybody is in on it. I don't mind having this. We could have regular meetings. We don't have to have them at the time, but it's completely up to you.
Madame Thibault.
9:10 a.m.
Bloc
Louise Thibault Bloc Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC
That's a good thing, but the committee could exceptionally decide not to refer to the subcommittee and sit as a whole committee. However, having a subcommittee is a good thing, because once in a while some of us might be given a mandate to address an issue which suddenly comes up. In my view, it would not be reasonable not to have a steering committee.
Thank you.
9:10 a.m.
Conservative
Mike Wallace Conservative Burlington, ON
I was going to say that we might as well put it together, and then you can use it as needed.
9:10 a.m.
Conservative
9:10 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Diane Marleau
Yes. There are two Bloc members. It can be either one--or do you want one in particular?
Do you want one or both?