Mr. Chair, I wanted to ask for the floor briefly to properly congratulate you and welcome you to the new role of chairman that you've assumed for government operations.
I had the honour of chairing this committee for a couple of years and found it to be one of the more well-functioning and congenial committees that I can remember sitting on. There's some continuity on the government-side members as well here. I think they can attest that we were quite proud of not only the tone and the conduct of the committee, but also some of the quality work that we managed to produce in that time.
So it's in that spirit, Mr. Chair, that while I have the floor I have a motion to suggest under the heading of routine motions that would facilitate that type of tone for the committee as we go forward.
If you don't mind, I'll read the motion to you. I can then submit a copy to you to circulate to the other committee members. The motion is:
That the Committee may meet in camera only for the purpose of discussing: a) wages, salaries or other employee benefits; b) contracts and contract negotiations; c) labour relations and personnel matters; d) draft reports; e) briefings concerning national security; and That all votes taken in camera should be recorded in the Minutes of Proceedings, including how each member voted when recorded votes are requested.
If you find that motion in order, Mr. Chair, and as we're under routine motions, I would like the opportunity to speak to the motion to explain some of the rationale.