Is there unanimous consent?
Evidence of meeting #33 for Health in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was program.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #33 for Health in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was program.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
Liberal
Doug Eyolfson Liberal Winnipeg West, MB
Now that we have unanimous consent, I am moving the amendment to remove “two weeks” from the motion.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sukh Dhaliwal
Mr. Eyolfson, there is no unanimous consent. Do you want to continue the debate? You have the floor.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sukh Dhaliwal
There is a motion to adjourn the debate. The clerk is to take the vote. It's a non-debatable motion.
Bloc
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sukh Dhaliwal
Honourable members, if we adjourn the debate on the amendment, we will go back to the main motion.
Liberal
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sukh Dhaliwal
We are not voting on the adjournment of the debate. We're voting on the amendment. Are members clear about this?
Bloc
Maxime Blanchette-Joncas Bloc Rimouski—La Matapédia, QC
That is very clear, Mr. Chair, but I just want to tell you that I asked to speak before you agreed to the motion to adjourn the debate. I am trying to clarify that.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sukh Dhaliwal
Dr. Eyolfson had the floor. You are the next speaker on the list, but he is the one who brought that forward. He had the right to bring that forward, and I am following the Standing Orders. Thank you.
With that, let's vote and continue.
Bloc
Maxime Blanchette-Joncas Bloc Rimouski—La Matapédia, QC
Mr. Chair, I understand that you wish to close the debate. Do you not want us to continue our discussions on the amendment?
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sukh Dhaliwal
That is the motion on the floor, and it's not debatable.
We are voting on the amendment right now, and then we will come to the motion as amended. Is it clear?
Okay. Let's take the vote. The honourable members are very clear that we'll take the vote on the amendment.
Please go ahead, Madam Clerk.
(Amendment agreed to: yeas 6; nays 5)
The amendment is carried. We are back to the motion as amended.
Mr. Blanchette-Joncas has the floor.
Bloc
Maxime Blanchette-Joncas Bloc Rimouski—La Matapédia, QC
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I understand that my colleagues in the government want to protect the minister's agenda. I find them to be people who show solidarity. I commend them highly for that.
I would like to propose an amendment to my motion. Would a one-month deadline for the minister to appear before the committee satisfy the government? I hope so. Does the minister find this urgent enough to come? I am even willing to extend the deadline until the end of the parliamentary session.
So, I would like the government members to show some flexibility so that we can reach an agreement and ensure, at the very least, that we receive the people we have summoned by the end of the parliamentary session, which is June 19. That seems quite reasonable to me.
Liberal
Doug Eyolfson Liberal Winnipeg West, MB
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
We have no idea what the current schedule is of the health minister. The minister may have other commitments that are unbreakable. We do not want to put her in a position such that she would be unable to attend in any timeline. We agree that the health minister should come, but a timeline at this point would be unworkable.
Liberal
Conservative
Dan Mazier Conservative Riding Mountain, MB
I think that's a really good point. I think that before the summer break is more than adequate time. That will give her almost two months, so I would support that amendment.
I think that sends a very clear signal that we understand that she's a very busy minister, but there are some pretty serious things that she needs to clear up here as well, and I think two months is lots of time for her to come here.