Procedure and House Affairs Committee on May 8th, 2007

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington, ON]

We are very fortunate in having procedural experts sitting at the other end of the table, but my only concern on this matter...maybe it's not unusual to have one member speak for another, but it's certainly outside my practice, so if that's considered normal practice, then I have no reason to object to what Mr. Szabo is doing.

Could we ask if that is generally considered appropriate in circumstances like this?

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Goodyear]

Would one of our witnesses respond to Mr. Reid? Is it appropriate for a member to speak on behalf of another member in this situation?

[Audrey O'Brien]

It's not unusual, when the member in question is the leader of a party, for there to be a spokesperson from that party who conveys his or her wishes in a setting such as this one. The committee and you as chair would obviously be free to feel comfortable with that or not. But under the circumstances, and with the explanation given, I don't see any difficulty with that.

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington, ON]

I withdraw my objection.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Goodyear]

Okay. Thank you.

Then the chair repeats that the motion is accepted in good faith by the member, and we'll vote on the motion.

Is it the wish of the committee to adopt the report, which is the third report regarding private members' business with respect to motion M-322?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Goodyear]

Is it agreed that the chair, clerk, and researchers be authorized to make such grammatical and editorial changes as may be necessary, without changing the substance of the report?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Goodyear]

And finally, is it agreed that the chair present the report to the House?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Goodyear]

Thank you. Colleagues, I think....

I'm sorry, Madame Picard, please.

[Pauline Picard, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Chairman, I simply want to remind you that when the Subcommittee on Private Members' Business hears motions or bills, it follows established criteria, which guide the members in their decisions as to whether such bills or motions are votable or not. We do not verify or make judgments on their substance. I want everybody to be clear on that. We determine whether an item is votable or non-votable based on established criteria.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Goodyear]

Thank you.

I believe we've done as much as we can in the public setting. We're going to discuss future business at this point, so I'm going to, again....

Mr. Reid, please.

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington, ON]

I'm sorry. Actually, there is an item I wanted to bring up. It essentially amounts to a notice of motion. I could do that either before or after we go...I gather you're planning on going in camera.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Goodyear]

My friend, if you want to do it in public, we're happy to do that right now.

Is it necessary that our witnesses be here?

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington, ON]

No, it isn't.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Goodyear]

Then I will thank our witnesses yet again for your kind indulgence and your ability to stay later to help the committee. You're dismissed at this point. Thank you.

Mr. Reid, please.

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington, ON]

Thank you.

I suspect that most members of the committee will be aware of the fact that on March 29 and again on April 17, and on a third occasion as well, I drew to the attention of the Speaker in the House a question of privilege relating to documents, which included, among other things, my personnel files from when I was staff on Parliament Hill and the personnel files of other people, and also correspondence files and so on, that had been retained and kept for over a year in the offices of the leader of the opposition.

I contended in my presentation that my privileges had been violated. I contended further than that: I also indicated that I thought the Criminal Code had been violated as well.

The Speaker ruled several days ago, on May 2, and in his ruling he indicated, and maybe, with your permission, I'll just quote:

Members are aware that parliamentary privilege is strictly limited in its application. With respect to individual members, privilege provides them with a guarantee of freedom of speech, freedom from arrest in civil actions, exemption from jury duty and from appearing as a witness, and freedom from obstruction, interference, intimidation and molestation.

On that basis he said that none of those privileges had been violated by the actions to which I'd referred.

However, he also went on to say in his ruling, and I quote again:

Perhaps the hon. member should bring his concerns on this matter to the attention of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs in respect of the proper handling of found documents pertaining to matters of parliamentary business and belonging to another member or to the caucus of another recognized party.

So my intention is to bring this matter forward in the form of a motion before the committee, and I would do so at our next meeting.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Goodyear]

Well, thank you very much, Mr. Reid. I look forward to the motion.

If we could just adjourn for less than....

Oh, I'm sorry. Madam Redman.

[Karen Redman, Liberal, Kitchener Centre, ON]

Thank you very much.

I would just ask Scott Reid--I really appreciate the fact that you've given us notice of motion, because it's not required in this committee, as you know--will we be receiving that in writing beforehand?

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington, ON]

Yes. My intention, actually, was to try to get it in both official languages. That's my big concern.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gary Goodyear]

Thank you.

Is there anything further before we go in camera? We're going to go in camera for one minute, then we'll come back and discuss future business.

We do have a few minutes left, colleagues. This has been a very pressing meeting, but we can get through it. So I'm going to just suspend the meeting for one minute.

[Proceedings continue in camera]