Government Operations Committee on June 9th, 2009

[Brian Jean, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Athabasca, AB]

Mr. Chair, point of order.

Obviously, I've been substituted in on this committee and I haven't had an opportunity to hear what the particular motion is. Given that I have been signed in now, I think it's fair to have the opportunity to hear the motion read back by the clerk and to be part of discussion before voting on that particular motion.

[The Chair, Liberal, Derek Lee]

Well, at this point, the chair has already agreed to terminate debate. You are certainly entitled to have the motion read again one more time. Ms. Hall Findley did read it.

The clerk will read it. That's most appropriate.

[The Clerk of the Committee, Mr. Michel Marcotte]

That the Treasury Board Secretariat provide to the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates by June 11, 2009—

[Brian Jean, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Athabasca, AB]

I'm sorry, I'm just having difficulty hearing. Sorry, I apologize.

[The Clerk]

That the Treasury Board Secretariat provide to the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates by June 11, 2009: i) the most recent Central Financial Management Reporting System data for 2008-2009 fiscal year expenditures and lapses by department; and ii) the Expenditure Monitor produced by TBS relating to the final quarter of fiscal 2008-2009 as well as the final copies of all the subsequent quarterly Expenditure Monitor reports as they are completed.

[The Chair, Liberal, Derek Lee]

Okay, that's the motion.

If it's related to the vote on the motion, yes, on a point of order.

[Paul Calandra, Conservative, Oak Ridges—Markham, ON]

Mr. Chair, you know when we had left here, there was the suggestion that depending on how long the voting went, we would not be coming back. As you know, when we left, I did make mention of the fact that some of the members had already left and had made the assumption that we had adjourned. I was under the impression that because the voting went a little longer than we had anticipated, we would not be coming back. I did have some questions I had wanted to ask and speak on, on the motion. I've missed all of that. I feel that in a very real way my rights as a member of this committee have been somewhat prejudiced by the fact that there was a great deal of misunderstanding with respect to this committee. I have mentioned that Mr. Martin was actually.... I appreciate he's made it back.

Mr. Chair, this goes on and on in this committee. We are constantly, it strikes me, arguing with respect to procedure and how things work. We talk about motions. It's a quarter after one, for crying out loud, and we're debating a motion that I assume is a serious motion; otherwise it wouldn't have been brought forward by the member opposite. It was something that happened after the bells rang. We had an agreement that when the bells rang at this place, the gavel would come down. You've not paid any attention to that. I was halfway out the door when you then suggested that we would come back and you would suspend, as opposed to paying attention to what we had already agreed upon, Mr. Chair.

At this point, there is so much more information that I would like. I'm a new member, granted. I might not know the procedures around here and how things work. I might not have the benefit of some of the members who have been around here a lot longer. But this strikes me as being a motion that is something that is of importance. It's something I would like to learn a little bit more about. I want to know some of the rationales for bringing the motion forward at this time. I think we owe it to the other members of the committee to make sure that it's being debated and discussed with the entire committee here.

[The Chair, Liberal, Derek Lee]

Thank you for your point of order.

[Paul Calandra, Conservative, Oak Ridges—Markham, ON]

I'm not quite done yet, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Derek Lee]

You seem to be continuing on with some anecdotal background to this. I don't agree with all of it. But in any event, I've accepted the motion. We've moved for a vote. We're going to proceed to a vote, and I've put enough preamble into this that there's little harm to come from the vote or its outcome. The department will respond accordingly. I don't see any prejudice here at all. There are no interests that are going to be harmed. The motion simply pursues the public interest.

The motion is properly put. I'm going to call the vote.

(Motion agreed to: yeas 5; nays 3)

We can stop there.

If there's no further business, I will adjourn.

[Paul Calandra, Conservative, Oak Ridges—Markham, ON]

Mr. Chair, point of order.

I want to put down for the record, Mr. Chair, I think that at some point in time, you, as chair, might want to be a bit more respectful of the members who serve on this committee. I appreciate that not all the members on my side might feel the same way that I do. In the few months that I've served on this committee, I have been struck by how little attention is paid to members on this committee. I am struck by the fact that lists are brought forward, that names are brought forward. We're debating an issue right now that was not supposed to be brought on the table.

You've allowed it to come forward and.... I just want to express my absolute and utter disgust with the process over the last few months and how this particular motion has been brought forward. This is a very serious and important motion. We owed it to the other members of the committee to make sure that we were here. Again, it's a quarter after one, and we're still debating something when the gavel should have come down prior. We do a great disservice to people when we try to ram stuff through.

[The Chair, Liberal, Derek Lee]

Thank you for your contributions on that point of order.

We can adjourn now.