Government Operations Committee on July 23rd, 2020

[Francis Drouin, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

I think what my colleague Mr. MacKinnon is saying is that obviously it's the will of the committee, but don't be surprised if some departments say they don't know or weren't involved. We're trying to be helpful so that you don't waste two hours of your time asking questions.... It's frustrating on the part of the opposition, or any members of Parliament who are part of this committee, to ask questions of officials who say, “Sorry, I don't know” or “I wasn't involved”.

We're just warning you that in your list.... We didn't raise it at the last meeting that PSPC and Treasury Board had nothing to do with this. We're just warning you now so that you don't become surprised in future meetings when we invite the officials to come before us and they say, “Sorry, we weren't involved”. I don't know how many times I can say that, but let the committee be warned.

[The Chair, Conservative, Tom Lukiwski]

Thank you.

Mr. Jowhari, I believe your hand is raised.

[Majid Jowhari, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

Mr. Chair, it is my understanding that our office has reached out to the clerk and highlighted the weeks during which we may be challenged to be able to participate. Those weeks are the first week of August and the first week of September. With regard to the number of sittings, an even split between August and September would be much appreciated.

As you know, the economy is opening up. Part of our job is to actively reach out to our stakeholders in our ridings to make sure we hear from them and get their feedback on how the government program has helped them. I would appreciate it if the chair and the clerk could take that into consideration and even out the number of sessions, whether it's four or five, during the months of August and September to allow us to be able to ensure that, given the opening of the economy, we can proactively reach out.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Conservative, Tom Lukiwski]

Just to inform all committee members, from a logistical standpoint, when the House of Commons is not sitting, we are reasonably restricted as to how many meetings we can have at one time. In fact, there's only one meeting at a time. When the House of Commons is sitting, whether it be virtually or in person, then we can accommodate more than just one meeting at a time.

What I'm hearing, I believe, is that most members, given the suggestions and advice you have given me and my clerk, would be comfortable if we came up with a meeting schedule and just called the meetings—we'd give you adequate notice, of course—based on the information and advice you've given us as to your own personal schedules and the timing of meetings held in the next month or two.

Does that encapsulate the feelings of most members? Are you going to be comfortable in allowing me to call the meetings, based on that information? I see a bunch of thumbs-up. I don't see any thumbs-down. Based on that, colleagues, that's how we will proceed.

If you have any additional suggestions, you can always go directly to our clerk and we will take those into consideration. For now, let's leave it until the end of this month, until the July 28 final meeting of finance has been completed. Then we will advise you as to the schedule of meetings in August, and beyond, if necessary. All of this is contingent upon our whips approving our suggested meeting schedule.

Mr. Clerk, do we need to vote on something?

[The Clerk of the Committee, Mr. Paul Cardegna]

Mr. Chair, if you want that to be clearly reflected in the minutes, I would propose that what you summarized is that the committee authorize the chair to set the schedule for the committee's meetings for the month of August. This would allow you the flexibility to set the meetings, as the committee is authorizing you to do so.

If that's the motion you're happy with, I can do the roll call on that.

[The Chair, Conservative, Tom Lukiwski]

Yes, please go ahead, Paul.

(Motion agreed to: yeas 9; nays 0)

Colleagues, we will be getting back to you, and hopefully, giving you as much advance notice as possible. I will give the final word to our clerk.

[The Clerk]

Just to reiterate for my benefit and for the benefit of the analysts, if we could get the witness lists as soon as possible, it greatly increases our ability to get the witnesses you want. That's just a reminder to the members that we would appreciate receiving those witness lists as soon as possible.

[The Chair, Conservative, Tom Lukiwski]

Colleagues, thank you once again. It looks like we're actually going to adjourn this meeting on time. Hopefully, you are all healthy and safe. Until we meet again, we are adjourned.