Fine, that's perfect.
(Motion agreed to)
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.
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.
9:15 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Diane Marleau
Reduced quorum: that the chair be authorized to hold meetings to receive evidence and to have that evidence printed when a quorum is not present, provided that at least three members are present, including one member of the opposition.
9:15 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Diane Marleau
That can happen. When we have witnesses, it's better to hear them than to send them away and make them come back.
Do you agree?
There are no decisions that can be taken when there is no quorum, but we can hear witnesses and the hearings are recorded.
May 4th, 2006 / 9:15 a.m.
Conservative
Harold Albrecht Conservative Kitchener—Conestoga, ON
I have a question. This is my first experience, so I'm looking to you for guidance. What is the rationale when we have a chair who is not part of the governing party and we don't have at least one member of the party in power there as well?
9:15 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Diane Marleau
He's talking about the reduced quorum. I think this had at least one member of the opposition. You can have three members of the governing party, but you have to have at least one member of the opposition. That's what it's meant to be.
Maybe because in this case it's—
9:15 a.m.
Conservative
Harold Albrecht Conservative Kitchener—Conestoga, ON
In the way it reads, it looks like you could.
I'm not afraid of it. Don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to make a big deal about it. It only seems that at the point when we have a chair who isn't from the party in government that it would be wise to have at least one member of government at the meeting for the purpose of hearing the evidence.
9:15 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Diane Marleau
To make sure, yes.
I think this motion was written for a committee without the chair being from the opposition. We should maybe change the wording. Does somebody want to move that?
9:15 a.m.
Liberal
9:15 a.m.
Liberal
Raymond Bonin Liberal Nickel Belt, ON
We should add “and at least one member of the opposition”.
Madam Chair, Mr. Albrecht is correct. We've been doing this for years and nobody noticed, but it's true that we could have had three from the opposition. It's a good point.
It's your first meeting and you're already fixing things.
9:15 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Diane Marleau
To be honest, there haven't been many committees in the past that are chaired by opposition.
9:15 a.m.
Conservative
Harold Albrecht Conservative Kitchener—Conestoga, ON
I'm sure, Madam Chairman, that it's very unusual as well to have this small a number.
9:15 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Diane Marleau
We're going to change it. Ray is moving this motion. We're going to change it to say “provided that at least three members are present, including one member of the opposition and one member of the governing party”.
9:15 a.m.
Conservative
Harold Albrecht Conservative Kitchener—Conestoga, ON
Great.
(Amendment agreed to)
(Motion agreed to)
9:15 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Diane Marleau
On the distribution of documents, the motion is that the clerk of the committee be authorized to distribute to the members of the committee only documents that are available in both official languages.
9:15 a.m.
An hon. member
So moved.
9:15 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Diane Marleau
It's extremely important because there are two official languages in Canada. We cannot start to accept documents which have not been submitted in both official languages. Are we all in agreement?
(Motion agreed to.)
9:15 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Diane Marleau
On working meals, the motion is that the clerk of the committee be authorized to make the necessary arrangements to provide working meals for the committee and its subcommittees.
This may happen when we run overtime. Our slot is from nine to eleven on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. The likelihood of this happening is not very high, but it can happen. Sometimes you switch, or sometimes you go to longer times. You never know. You also never know what you're going to be studying and the importance, and so on. So I suggest that someone move this.
9:15 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Diane Marleau
In September we'll be in the slot from eleven to one, so it's a good thing to pass that.
9:15 a.m.
An hon. member
So moved.
9:15 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Diane Marleau
What is going to happen in September? Why are we going to be going from eleven to one?