Evidence of meeting #123 for Procedure and House Affairs in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was clause.
A video is available from Parliament.
Conservative
John Nater Conservative Perth—Wellington, ON
Am I hearing that you won't explicitly state that in legislation?
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Larry Bagnell
Thank you.
Does anyone have one quick question without a long preamble—first come, first served?
Go ahead, Elizabeth.
Green
Elizabeth May Green Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC
Minister, when do you anticipate we will see the rules for the leaders' debates?
NDP
Nathan Cullen NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
Thanks, Chair.
The specific question is this: Can you point to a measure in here that will make good the claim of wanting to increase the diversity of voices, particularly women's voices, in future parliaments?
Liberal
Karina Gould Liberal Burlington, ON
The amendment I was discussing with regard to care expenses is very important, because it will enable people who may have thought they couldn't run for office to put their names forward as candidates.
NDP
Nathan Cullen NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
Specifically, is that for the pre-writ period or just during the 35 days, typically, of the election itself?
Liberal
Karina Gould Liberal Burlington, ON
It's for the writ period, because the pre-writ period would not be reimbursable.
NDP
Nathan Cullen NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
Right, so the measure you're pointing to is 35 days of being able to use fundraised money for child care?
Liberal
Karina Gould Liberal Burlington, ON
It could be 50, but it's really important, because that's the time you are working full time on this and need access to those services.
NDP
Nathan Cullen NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
The only reason I ask is that in all the surveys of candidates coming forward, women talk about the nomination process as being much more difficult than the actual writ period itself in terms of family obligations. The one measure you point to isn't aimed at what women point to as the most significant barrier.
I really encourage my colleagues to consider measures that have worked in other jurisdictions to elect more women, which are generally connected back to the reimbursements we give back to parties. That's the amendment we're moving. If we want it, let's walk the talk.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Larry Bagnell
Thank you, Minister, for coming. It's a great way to start out our clause-by-clause study today, and we look forward to reporting back to you.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Larry Bagnell
We'll suspend so that people can get their notes ready for clause-by-clause consideration.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Larry Bagnell
Good afternoon, and welcome back to the 123rd meeting of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs.
This afternoon we'll begin clause-by-clause consideration of Bill C-76, an act to amend the Canada Elections Act and other acts and to make certain consequential amendments.
I would like to again note the presence of the officials from the Privy Council Office: Manon Paquet, Senior Policy Advisor, and Jean-François Morin, Senior Policy Advisor. They will attend our meetings to provide assistance to the committee should members have questions about the bill. Thank you both for being here.
Before we begin, I would like provide members with some general information about how we will proceed with clause-by-clause consideration of the bill.
The committee will consider each of the clauses in the order in which they appear in the bill. Once I have called a clause, it is subject to debate and vote.
If there are amendments to the clause in question, I will recognize the member proposing the amendment, who will explain it in around a minute or so. The amendment will then be open for debate. When no further members wish to intervene, the amendment will be voted on.
I would like to remind members to ensure that clause-by-clause consideration proceeds in an efficient, orderly fashion.
I may limit debate to five minutes per party per clause. As I said earlier, I'll be flexible as long as people don't spend a lot of time on minor clauses where things are obvious, etc. If I do enforce the five minutes, it's per clause, not per amendment. There is the odd clause that has 10 or 20 amendments, but there are still only five minutes, so keep—
Yes?
Conservative
Scott Reid Conservative Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, ON
You said you “may”, so I'm assuming that you'll show greater generosity on many, particularly if it's obvious that we're not simply trying to use up time.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Larry Bagnell
I will, however, endeavour to use my discretion as chair to allow as much debate as may be deemed necessary, provided that members are judicious in their use of time.
Amendments will be considered in the order in which they appear in the package that each member received from the clerk. If there are amendments that are consequential to each other, they will be voted on together.
In addition to having to be properly drafted in a legal sense, amendments must also be procedurally admissible. The chair may be called upon to rule amendments inadmissible if they go beyond the principle of the bill or beyond the scope of the bill, both of which were adopted by the House when it agreed to the bill at second reading, or if they offend the financial prerogative of the Crown.
If you wish to eliminate a clause of the bill altogether, the proper course of action is to vote against that clause when the time comes, not to move an amendment to delete it.
If during the process the committee decides not to vote on a clause, that clause can be put aside by the committee, so that we revisit it later in the process.
Amendments have been given a number, found on the top right corner, to indicate which party submitted them. There is no need for a seconder to move an amendment. Once an amendment is moved, unanimous consent is required to withdraw it.
While I'm on the subject of amendments, I would like to remind members that the committee has already agreed to amend clause 262 by replacing line 32 on page 153 with the following: “election period is $1,400,000.” That means we can't amend that clause any more.
If the committee has not completed clause-by-clause consideration of the bill by 1:00 p.m. Friday, all remaining amendments submitted to the committee will be deemed moved, the question put forthwith and successively without further debate on all remaining clauses and proposed amendments, as well as each and every question necessary to dispose of the committee stage of the bill.
The committee's report to the House will contain only the text of any amendments that were adopted, as well as an indication of any clauses that were deleted.
I thank the members for their attention.
We will now proceed to clause-by-clause consideration.
NDP
Nathan Cullen NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
I have just a technical question, Chair, before we start. It's a question through you to our guests.
First of all, thank you for being here and being willing to spend some...I don't know about “willing”, but you're going to spend some time with us.
Procedurally, I've dealt with other legislation, and we usually have witnesses from the minister's office as well. Is Privy Council handling all of this, or are there technical advisers from Minister Gould's office who will be made available to the committee as we go through some of these amendments?
That's through you to our—
Liberal
NDP
Nathan Cullen NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
The PCO is Minister Gould's office? Is that the structure here?
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Larry Bagnell
That's where most of this work is. It's sort of different from other bills.