Evidence of meeting #55 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 opposition.
A video is available from Parliament.
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Conservative
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Liberal
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Conservative
Jamie Schmale Conservative Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, ON
—that we want to have this conversation.
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Liberal
David Graham Liberal Laurentides—Labelle, QC
—because you don't want to hear the ideas that are coming from the witnesses, and that's why I say that you don't want to have the conversation.
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Conservative
Jamie Schmale Conservative Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, ON
David, we might not agree on all of it. There's stuff we will not agree on—
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Conservative
Jamie Schmale Conservative Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, ON
—but there's stuff we will agree on, so let's have that conversation.
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Conservative
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An hon. member
Right. Have the conversation.
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Conservative
Jamie Schmale Conservative Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, ON
Agree.... You know what the issue is.
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Liberal
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Liberal
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Conservative
Jamie Schmale Conservative Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, ON
I guess we're going to continue for a little while longer.
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Conservative
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Liberal
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Voices
Oh, oh!
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Liberal
The Chair Liberal Larry Bagnell
Okay. The next person on this list is Mr. Reid. He's not here, so we go to the next person on the list, who is Mr. Richards. He's not here. The next person on the list is Mr. Nater.
You're on.
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Conservative
John Nater Conservative Perth—Wellington, ON
Mr. Chair, I will begin by referencing the notice of motion given by Ms. Tassi.
I applaud her ingenuity in trying to justify it by quoting a Standing Order or by quoting the number. That doesn't change the Standing Order, though. Just for the benefit of the committee and our clerks, I would draw the clerks' attention to a couple of authorities.
The first is from Beauchesne's sixth edition at paragraph 831, and it states:
(1) A committee can only consider those matters which have been committed to it by the House.
That is from the Journals of June 9, 1928, at page 571.
Further, O'Brien and Bosc, on page 973, state:
The House delegates certain powers to the committees it creates in order that they can carry out their duties and fulfill their mandates. Committees have no powers other than those delegated to them in this way, and cannot assume other powers on their own initiative.
The exercise of their powers is subject to three fundamental rules. First, they can be exercised only on the territory and within the areas of jurisdiction in which the Parliament of Canada is entitled to legislate. Second, committees can invoke these powers only within and for purposes of the mandate that the House (and the Senate, in the case of joint committees) has entrusted to them. Finally, barring specific instructions from the House, committees are free to decide whether they will exercise the powers granted to them.
It goes without saying that the committee's mandate within the Standing Orders does not entrust the study of privilege without a direct reference from the House. That's on the point of order, Mr. Chair.
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Liberal
The Chair Liberal Larry Bagnell
Okay. I'll leave that up to the advisement of the clerks to put into their decision-making. As I said, there's no rush on this.
Ms. Tassi.