Procedure and House Affairs Committee on March 21st, 2017

[Kevin Waugh, Conservative, Saskatoon—Grasswood, SK]

Yes, that's right, he probably did. I just wanted to share it because that was the type of man he was. He desperately wanted to be Speaker of the House, and we did give him that opportunity for that afternoon.

To have him explain the parliamentary procedure with his voice not as it was four months before, or five, or a year, spoke volumes about the man. My wife was really touched. I told her he was from the Ottawa area, would like to be Speaker of the House; but in my mind I'm going to go with Geoff Regan because our son's name is spelled the same way. She's never forgotten about that. We've often talked about it because ALS was a horrible disease. We saw it in front of our eyes in a short period of time. It was horrifying to see week after week this man, who was so strong six months before, knocking on doors when he didn't have to knock on doors. He knew he was going to win Ottawa—Vanier, but that was the type of man he was.

It was interesting. I'm looking forward to how you choose the Speaker, because it was a heck of an education for our family to have this man, on a Friday night, phone our household. He could have blown her off and moved on to the next MP. He didn't. He wanted to educate her, knowing that my wife, when I did come home, would say that this Mr. Bélanger phoned, and here was his number. I wasn't going to phone him at 11:30 my time, which would have been 12:30 or 1:30.

I just wanted to share this story, as you're talking about selecting a Speaker. It's probably one of the most important.... I'll never forget that Friday night, and so I just wanted to share it before Mr. Nater goes on to selecting here.

[The Chair, Liberal, Larry Bagnell]

It's a great story to have on the record.

[Scott Simms, Liberal, Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL]

Good job, Kevin.

[John Nater, Conservative, Perth—Wellington, ON]

Absolutely. I had the very brief privilege of serving with Mr. Bélanger on the official languages committee at the beginning of this Parliament, and unfortunately his health deteriorated far too quickly to a very tragic disease. It's one of those terrible diseases that just robs you of so much.

I think that was a great discussion, Kevin, so thank you for sharing that. You raised the point—

[Blake Richards, Conservative, Banff—Airdrie, AB]

Mr. Chair, I guess I have to do the same. I'm sitting here and I'm thinking, I have to say.... I won't take long. Listening to Kevin's story, I had the privilege of learning some very important wisdom about parliamentary procedure, the function of committees, and these types of things from Mauril Bélanger as well.

The first time I chaired a committee, the first time I had the job you're doing, Mr. Chair, Mauril would have been one of my vice-chairs and was where Mr. Johns sits right now. He was the lone Liberal. I can remember learning a lot. There are so many bits of procedure that we don't sometimes realize until we see it for the first time. I think that actually ties back to the debate we're having about the Standing Orders and why it's so important to really fully consider them. There are probably all kinds of untold numbers of unintended consequences that could come from one change to one standing order, and how it can affect other things.

I just remember him. There were some times where I thought I had control of this committee as the chair, and he taught me that sometimes one member who is really well informed can control some of what goes on in a committee pretty easily, too, even though he or she is not sitting in the chair. I learned some things from him that I think were very valuable for me as a person, as a member of a committee, and as a chair. It does speak back as well to why it's so important to consider these changes and make sure you're talking them out and have an agreement among the parties. One change can have such a great impact on so many things, and we don't even realize it at the time.

We have someone like Mr. Nater who has an educational and academic background on these things; and someone like Mauril Bélanger, an example of someone who has a great wealth of parliamentary experience and has probably seen all kinds of situations.

I did have a chance briefly in a minority Parliament, and you would have had one as well, Mr. Chair, a couple of them, I think. He would have been through the whole thing, everything from opposition to government, to minority government to minority opposition, to third party opposition to cabinet, to the whole ball of wax. We all have these different perspectives. That's why it's so important to get those different perspectives and to make sure that everybody's viewpoints are heard and actually considered as part of the process rather than just simply given window dressing. That's an important point.

[The Chair, Liberal, Larry Bagnell]

Thank you, Mr. Richards.

Mr. Nater, on the Speaker.

[John Nater, Conservative, Perth—Wellington, ON]

Yes, thank you, Chair.

It's a great, great conversation and, again, it goes back to the wisdom of those who've gone before us. We have so many current parliamentarians and former parliamentarians who all have so much to offer to a discussion like this. All that needs to happen is the acceptance of the amendment, the learned amendment introduced by Mr. Reid that would provide this committee a pathway forward to go on and to make things happen.

Unanimous reports are not unheard of, especially in this committee, from what I learned from Mr. Christopherson yesterday. It's certainly an opportunity to go forward and make things happen.

The next topic I wanted to speak about was going to be the selection of the Speaker. I know Mr. Simms is next on the speakers list, and I don't want to put him on the spot, but potentially this would be a good spot before I get into the extensive discussion on the election of the Speaker.

I might yield the floor to Mr. Simms, if he is ready to take the floor.

[The Chair, Liberal, Larry Bagnell]

Mr. Simms.

[Scott Simms, Liberal, Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL]

Are you done?

[The Chair, Liberal, Larry Bagnell]

Actually Mr. Simms is not next on the list, Mr. Johns is.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[Scott Simms, Liberal, Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL]

Point of order, Mr. Chair.

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

Point of order.

[Blake Richards, Conservative, Banff—Airdrie, AB]

Mr. Johns just got here. How did he manage?

You were here earlier when I was away or something, were you?

[The Chair, Liberal, Larry Bagnell]

Mr. Johns is next on the list.

[Blake Richards, Conservative, Banff—Airdrie, AB]

He got on the top of the list awfully quickly there.

[The Chair, Liberal, Larry Bagnell]

He was on from when he was here last.

[Blake Richards, Conservative, Banff—Airdrie, AB]

Well, okay. I wasn't trying to call it into question or anything.

[Scott Simms, Liberal, Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL]

Point of order.

Mr. Nater, were you yielding me the floor? I mentioned earlier I wouldn't mind interjecting every now and then, not the speakers list, because we had this routine where I make a short interjection, and I don't have the extra... I shouldn't be saying this on television, but I don't have much to add to that.

[John Nater, Conservative, Perth—Wellington, ON]

I was offering for more....

[Blake Richards, Conservative, Banff—Airdrie, AB]

I might be able to help in this situation, Mr. Chair.

If it's okay, if Mr. Nader is offering an opportunity, it sounds like he maybe wanted to collect some of this thoughts on the next topic you want to discuss. That was kind of what I was getting the sense of, and he was offering to yield in support of Mr. Simms. I know Mr. Johns did mention to me there were a few things he kind of wanted to say. I have a few things I wouldn't mind saying either, so maybe between the three of us that would give Mr. Nader a chance to collect his thoughts, and we could all take a little bit of time.

[Scott Simms, Liberal, Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL]

If I may, yes, that was my understanding because I remember when you started earlier, I mentioned that I would interject if he felt tired, or he wanted to use the washroom, or something of that nature. By all means, I wouldn't mind. If the three of us want to go, maybe this is a good time for you to take a break.

[John Nater, Conservative, Perth—Wellington, ON]

An excellent time.

[Scott Simms, Liberal, Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL]

It's an excellent time to take a break. I get the hint. Okay, got it.

Gord, do you want to go?

[The Chair, Liberal, Larry Bagnell]

It would go to Mr. Johns first.