Procedure and House Affairs Committee on March 21st, 2017

[The Chair, Liberal, Larry Bagnell]

Remember, you're going to be here for Easter.

David, what hour are we at?

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

By my math—and I could be wrong as math was not always my strongest subject—it is 552:02, and I don't know if that's a.m. or p.m.

[The Chair, Liberal, Larry Bagnell]

I would like to thank all the staff again who—

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

I was hoping there was someone over there who was good at math. I mean, it would help with the budget next time.

[The Chair, Liberal, Larry Bagnell]

—have stayed late.

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

Terrific. In my taxes, I get lost.

[The Chair, Liberal, Larry Bagnell]

The buses will run for another half hour.

Mr. Genuis will have the floor tomorrow morning, so he has a lot of time to get the rest of his points across.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Larry Bagnell]

We will now suspend until 9 a.m. tomorrow morning. We will be in this room, 23-D. It will be televised.

Thank you everyone.

[The Chair, Liberal, Larry Bagnell]

Good morning everyone. Welcome to the 55th meeting of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs. This is a televised meeting.

When we suspended last night, Mr. Genuis had the floor.

Mr. Genuis.

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, ON]

On a point of order, Mr. Chair, just regarding the times we're going to suspend and reconvene at, our plan had been to go from 9:00 until 11:00 a.m. today. There had been talk of suspending early at 10:00 if Bill C-33 is in the House. I'm not sure if Bill C-33 is there or not. There was some talk about that. That's the first thing I want to clarify. Is Bill C-33 there?

[The Chair, Liberal, Larry Bagnell]

I haven't heard any evidence that Bill C-33 is there, so we're unlikely to suspend before 11:00.

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, ON]

Okay, so it's going to go until 11:00.

My second question is whether you've had a chance to decide on when we will be returning from the suspended meeting.

[The Chair, Liberal, Larry Bagnell]

Yes. We'll suspend until the Toronto Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup—

[An hon. member]

We might be in the Senate.

[The Chair, Liberal, Larry Bagnell]

—or until 9:00 Tuesday, May 2, whichever comes earlier.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

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

That's 2017.

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, ON]

Yes, that's a good point.

Thank you very much. That's helpful, Mr. Chairman.

[The Chair, Liberal, Larry Bagnell]

Mr. Genuis.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Mr. Chair, I guess with that timeline laid out, I'll have to try to get through this material fairly quickly. I'll certainly do as well as I can at that.

I think my kids are actually watching this morning—

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

That's cruel.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

—so I'm going to have to limit the profanity today, unlike last night.

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

Do you discipline them by filibustering, and if they don't behave, you just keep on with it until they do?

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

No, no, no, my kids enjoy watching. My daughter is four. It's hard to believe, but they enjoy watching me speak in Parliament. They may be the only ones, but....