Procedure and House Affairs Committee on Dec. 8th, 2016

[Tom Lukiwski, Conservative, Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan, SK]

Mr. Chair, that was going to be my question. I'm sorry. I'm probably asking questions that have already been asked. Has each party, every member had a chance to take this back to the caucus? I know I did a full presentation to our caucus at one time on all of the proposed changes to try to get their reaction. Because of their reaction, some of the suggestions that we had made, we struck. Our caucus simply wasn't in favour of it. I don't know if—

[The Chair, Liberal, Larry Bagnell]

No, we haven't yet.

[Tom Lukiwski, Conservative, Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan, SK]

It might be wise to do that, because otherwise, I can assure you, you may be thinking that you have a great idea, and once your caucus members find out—

[The Chair, Liberal, Larry Bagnell]

[Inaudible—Editor] permission from the committee.

Mr. Davies.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Mr. Chair, I'm not 100% sure that I'm clear on David's suggestion about identifying this and being a champion. I'm not quite sure what that means.

You're asking—

[David Graham, Liberal, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

You become the sponsor of the item. We could have a list from the analysts, and as a way of getting rid of stuff that nobody has an interest in, we would just say, “This is the one that I will take to the committee and defend.” It's a way of getting rid of stuff from the list faster.

[Arnold Chan, Liberal, Scarborough—Agincourt, ON]

This is just an amalgam of everybody's—

[David Graham, Liberal, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

Yes. Every idea that came up, every question, and every speech is here. There are a lot of ideas. Some are more interesting than others.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

The proposal is that as long as there's one person who's saying, “This is something that I could foresee supporting”, it stays on the list.

[David Graham, Liberal, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

That's right.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

If nobody does that—

[David Graham, Liberal, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

Then it's dropped.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Then you drop it off the list. It's a way of culling.

[David Graham, Liberal, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

That's exactly right.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

I understand.

[The Chair, Liberal, Larry Bagnell]

Just to be clear on everything, this report has in it everything that came up in the debate from everyone's speeches, so there are a zillion things in here.

[Anita Vandenbeld, Liberal, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

Yes, as well as the questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Larry Bagnell]

Yes, the questions too.

It looks like we have consent on that, but before we do that, do we have consent to discuss this with our caucuses? I don't see any reason why we wouldn't, but....

[David Graham, Liberal, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

It isn't a confidential document as it is right now, or is it?

[An hon. member]

We're in public—

[David Graham, Liberal, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

The document itself—

[The Chair, Liberal, Larry Bagnell]

I'd just feel more comfortable if we all agreed.

[Arnold Chan, Liberal, Scarborough—Agincourt, ON]

I thought the document would be public given that it was a public debate.

[David Graham, Liberal, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

That's what I was going to ask. If it isn't public, can we make it public?

[Arnold Chan, Liberal, Scarborough—Agincourt, ON]

Yes, I know.