Health Committee on June 21st, 2021

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

You are not arguing about the issue, so stick to the point.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Mr. Barlow and Ms. Rempel Garner, please don't interrupt—

[Jennifer O'Connell, Liberal, Pickering—Uxbridge, ON]

I get that Conservatives don't like to hear women speak, but that's fine. They want to to just interrupt me.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

I was speaking; I'm a woman.

[Jennifer O'Connell, Liberal, Pickering—Uxbridge, ON]

Mr. Chair, my point on this is that the original motion had conditions in terms of witnesses and each party having the opportunity to bring witnesses forward, so if Ms. Rempel Garner is simply going to control the witness list, then that's not consistent with what this committee had previously agreed to.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

I have a point of order on that point of order, Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Thank you, Ms. O'Connell.

Go ahead, Ms. Rempel Garner. I'm just about ready to rule on this.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Thank you.

The witnesses are prescribed by the programming motion that was referenced in my dilatory motion, so I would argue that Ms. O'Connell is wrong. I would also argue that continued attempts by the Liberals to raise points of order on this are filibustering to waste time so that the witnesses can't come here and the Liberals can't be held accountable for producing documents.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Thank you, Ms. Rempel Garner.

Mr. Lemire, did you have a point of order?

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

I just want us to remember that, if we are talking about infringing on rights, we must also make sure that we respect areas of jurisdiction. The motion as initially submitted infringed on areas of jurisdiction.

That being the case, Mr. Chair, I feel that you should have ruled the initial motion out of order because it deals with standards in long-term care homes.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Thank you, Mr. Lemire.

Mr. Van Bynen, go ahead.

[Tony Van Bynen, Liberal, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

My understanding is this:

That a 48 hours notice, interpreted as two nights, shall be required for any substantive motion to be considered by the committee, unless the substantive motion relates directly to business then under consideration, provided that (1) the notice be filed with the clerk of the committee no later than 4:00 p.m. from Monday to Friday—

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

On a point of order, Chair, it was not a substantive motion; it was a dilatory motion.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Ms. Rempel Garner....

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Time is being wasted.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Ms. Rempel Garner, please do not interrupt Mr. Van Bynen.

[Tony Van Bynen, Liberal, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

I do not interrupt you, Ms. Rempel Garner—

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

You do.

[Tony Van Bynen, Liberal, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

—so I would appreciate the same courtesy.

...that (2) the motion be distributed to members in both official languages by the clerk on the same day the said notice was transmitted if it was received no later than the deadline hour, and that (3) notices received after the deadline hour or on non-business days be deemed to have been received during the next business day; and that when the committee is travelling—

[Larry Maguire, Conservative, Brandon—Souris, MB]

I have a point of order, Mr. Chair.

[Tony Van Bynen, Liberal, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

—outside the Parliamentary Precinct, no substantive motions may be moved.

My point is exactly that. We were unable to be prepared. I was prepared to deal with 106(4), and now, all of a sudden, we're being asked to be prepared to ask questions of witnesses who are not here because the meeting was cancelled. Now, all of a sudden, Ms. Rempel Garner takes on the role of the clerk and/or chair and takes it upon herself to invite other witnesses, and I am denied the opportunity to prepare my questions and pursue the line of questioning that's appropriate.

At this point, I think, if we want to talk about democracy, these procedural gymnastics are defeating the democracy that we've very hard worked for.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

On that point, Chair—

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Thank you, Mr. Van Bynen.

We have Mr. Maguire first.

Go ahead, Mr. Maguire, on a point of order.

[Larry Maguire, Conservative, Brandon—Souris, MB]

I'll allow Ms. Rempel Garner to go ahead.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Go ahead, Ms. Rempel Garner, on that same point of order, please.