Government Operations Committee on Nov. 2nd, 2020

[The Chair (Mr. Robert Kitchen (Souris—Moose Mountain, CPC)), Conservative, Robert Gordon Kitchen]

I'd like to call this meeting to order.

I welcome you to meeting number four of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates.

The committee, as you are well aware, was supposed to be scheduled for a meeting today from 3:30 to 4:30, but at this point in time we are commencing at, according to my clock, 3:15 my time, which would be 4:15 your time. The meeting is to consider future business. Please note that this meeting is public.

The committee will meet again on Wednesday, November 4, 2020, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., to hear the President of the Treasury Board and the TBS officials on the main estimates, 2020-21. The meeting will be a televised session as well.

Pursuant to the motion adopted by the House on Wednesday, September 23, 2020, the committee may continue to sit in a hybrid format. This means that members can participate either in person in the committee room or by video conference, by Zoom.

We've all been on these committee meetings many times and we do have some rules. I suspect that by this time you all know those rules, but if at any time someone has a question I will repeat them. It's really just on the issue of English/French and translation. Also, if you're going to speak, please wait until I recognize you by name and also make certain your mike is unmuted.

In order to ensure social distancing in the committee room, if you need to speak privately with the clerk or the analysts during this meeting, please email him or them at the committee mailbox. I appreciate your doing that. You should all have that.

On Friday, the clerk sent out the text of a report from the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure. All of the propositions in the report were agreed to by the members of the subcommittee. Now these propositions need to be approved by this committee, so we are putting that forward to you today.

Once the subcommittee report is disposed of, then we will be free to move to other motions, if you wish.

I would ask that you take a look at the final report that we had from the subcommittee. I just want to bring a couple of things to your attention, and perhaps the committee might want to address those, because at this point it can add to what the subcommittee has put forward.

In particular, in point 4, where the subcommittee's final date was set for November 22, 2020, that being a Sunday, it might be a little awkward for the PBO to respond to us and to the clerk in dealing with issues. It might be worthwhile that the subcommittee consider doing either the Friday, which is November 20, or Monday, November 23.

I bring that to your attention because Ms. Vignola had that date in there. I guess I would ask Ms. Vignola if that's a concern for her to make one of those changes.

[Julie Vignola, Bloc, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

I have no problem with that. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Conservative, Robert Gordon Kitchen]

Okay, then I'll leave it to the committee to decide whether they want either the Friday or the Monday, and perhaps someone could mention that.

The second part I'd like to mention is that under points 5 and 6, we did not put in a timeline or deadline for when witnesses should be presented. By getting those witnesses to us ASAP, we would be able to set time frames with the clerks and the analysts to set things up. Again, I would ask the subcommittee to consider maybe giving it a week, until the end of this week, for witnesses to be submitted, or consideration of that as well.

With that said, I will open the floor to discussion on the subcommittee report.

We have Mr. Green.

[Matthew Green, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

Thank you.

Just as it relates to the date, my reading of “by Sunday” gives the report the opportunity to come back in the preceding work week, so as not to have a need for an amendment. It reads that it be presented by that date, so I think it allows the report to come back prior to the 22nd, if I read that correctly.

[The Chair, Conservative, Robert Gordon Kitchen]

Certainly, I think it can be.

When we notify the PBO, though, we'd like to give them a date, maybe Friday, which would fit within this. I'm okay with that if people are okay with it. I just want to make certain that we don't leave the PBO in a situation where they can't get a hold of somebody on the weekend, etc.

[Matthew Green, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

Then, Mr. Chair, perhaps the Monday gives them the extra time to be able to come in and report back.

[The Chair, Conservative, Robert Gordon Kitchen]

I'm not hearing anything further. Is that a consensus to have it—

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

Mr. Chair, Madame Vignola would like to intervene.

[The Chair, Conservative, Robert Gordon Kitchen]

Certainly. Ms. Vignola, go ahead.

[Julie Vignola, Bloc, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

November 22 is a Sunday, and I hope the Parliamentary Budget Officer at least takes weekends off.

It should make little difference whether we choose Friday or Monday. I suggest Friday, because a Monday deadline won't help if he doesn't work weekends. I think Friday would be a good date.

What I'm hearing through the grapevine is that the report is done, as it were, so if we ask him to appear Friday, it should still be plenty of time.

[The Chair, Conservative, Robert Gordon Kitchen]

Is there any further discussion?

[The Clerk]

Monsieur Drouin would like to intervene, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Conservative, Robert Gordon Kitchen]

Certainly, go ahead.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

We agree with Mrs. Vignola that it should be Friday, because if it is not ready by then, it won't be any more ready come Monday. I wouldn't want to make the Parliamentary Budget Officer have to work all weekend.

On this side, we agree with changing it to Friday.

[The Chair, Conservative, Robert Gordon Kitchen]

Thank you.

Is there any further discussion? As I'm not seeing any, then we will make the change from Sunday, November 22, to Friday, November 20.

As for the witnesses, is Friday comfortable for everybody to get their witness information in by? Is there any discussion on that?

Ms. Vignola.

[Julie Vignola, Bloc, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Since the Nuctech motion had already been moved in the summer—by Mr. McCauley, if I'm not mistaken—both sides, the opposition and the government, should have their witness lists ready.

Next is the government's response to the pandemic. Since we were studying the issue this summer, the witness lists should be ready, so Friday strikes me as a reasonable deadline.

[The Chair, Conservative, Robert Gordon Kitchen]

Thank you.

Is there anything further?

Mr. Paul-Hus.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

On our side, we agree as far as the deadlines and the report are concerned.

[The Chair, Conservative, Robert Gordon Kitchen]

Thank you, Mr. Paul-Hus.

[The Clerk]

If I may, Mr. Chair, if the committee agrees with Friday for the submission of the witness names for points 5 and 6, do they want to set a time—noon, three o'clock, five o'clock? I might suggest noon on Friday would work, or five o'clock on Friday would work as well. It is helpful for us to have a time. If we say end of business day, it lacks clarity.

In the past, we've done five o'clock. We could do that as well.

[The Chair, Conservative, Robert Gordon Kitchen]

Mr. Paul-Hus.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Chair, I move that we add “5 p.m.” to the motion.

[The Chair, Conservative, Robert Gordon Kitchen]

Is there any further discussion on the 5 p.m.? Seeing none, is there any further discussion that the committee would like to have on the subcommittee report? I'm not seeing any hands up.

With a show of hands, are we accepting the report from the subcommittee?

(Motion agreed to)

[The Chair, Conservative, Robert Gordon Kitchen]

Thank you.

That's good. We're moving along. That's very good to see.

I just want to point out one other thing on that Nuctech study. The motion the committee passed says that it be started by November 23, 2020. I want to make certain that the committee is comfortable. Perhaps we could invite the departments to appear before that date so that we can at least start and adhere to the motion that was presented and approved by the committee.

Is there any discussion?

Mr. Paul-Hus, that was your motion, and you had set it to start no later than November 23. With what we would be going through with the estimates—

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Chair, as agreed at the subcommittee meeting, the priority is to meet with the ministers on the main estimates and supplementary estimates (B). If, however, the ministers aren't available during the committee's time slots, it is essential that we begin our study on Nuctech right away.

We are also waiting for confirmation that the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates will be able to meet twice a week, which will help speed things up.