Evidence of meeting #66 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 commons.
A video is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Scott Reid Conservative Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, ON
Give us a second to figure out which of our two members here is voting.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Larry Bagnell
Okay, go ahead. We'll call you last while you decide. We'll call the other members—
Conservative
Liberal
Arnold Chan Liberal Scarborough—Agincourt, ON
It doesn't matter. If you're in the chair, you're automatically in.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Larry Bagnell
Mr. Clerk.
(Motion negatived: nays 5; yeas 4)
We still have eight minutes left.
Mr. Reid had the floor for questioning the witness. You had a minute left, I think.
Conservative
Scott Reid Conservative Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, ON
Thank you.
I think this is a relevant question. Your credentials, and particularly your writings, are very impressive.
Clerk of the Senate and Clerk of the Parliaments and Chief Legislative Services Officer
Thank you.
Conservative
Scott Reid Conservative Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, ON
The question I have to ask is an entirely different one, but one that I think of as I go from being one of the younger members of Parliament here to being one of the older ones. It happens—
Clerk of the Senate and Clerk of the Parliaments and Chief Legislative Services Officer
I've been there.
Conservative
Scott Reid Conservative Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, ON
It's just this. I realize no one can project their own future health, but assuming good health, how many years do you anticipate you'd be likely to—
Clerk of the Senate and Clerk of the Parliaments and Chief Legislative Services Officer
A good number.
Conservative
Scott Reid Conservative Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, ON
A good number. All right. I think you understand the logic of asking that. When you say a good number, forgive me, could we expect that if the 43rd Parliament is a majority Parliament and therefore goes a full four-year term, you intend to serve through the entire—
Clerk of the Senate and Clerk of the Parliaments and Chief Legislative Services Officer
Oh, I fully intend to be here for at least several Parliaments.
Conservative
Scott Reid Conservative Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, ON
For what it's worth, I served 10 years as deputy House leader and never got appointed House leader. Having been a bridesmaid numerous times, it's a warning more to Arnold than to.... I'll stop there.
That was the obvious question that occurred to me. I'm very glad to hear that you would wind up serving us long enough that....
The nature of the role you'd be taking on inevitably would involve, among other things, the next rewrite of the book that's currently called O’Brien and Bosc, formerly Marleau and Montpetit, as you know. I don't think that can be done by somebody who is there for just a few years. You have to be there for—
Clerk of the Senate and Clerk of the Parliaments and Chief Legislative Services Officer
I fully appreciate that and accept that. Having been involved in writing a smaller but still major production on procedure for us in the Senate, I'm fully aware of the nature of the work involved and how much attention to detail is required. For geeks like us, it's not a hardship.
Liberal
Conservative
Scott Reid Conservative Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, ON
No, he was looking at John, for the record.
Thank you, Mr. Robert.
NDP
Matthew Dubé NDP Beloeil—Chambly, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
As two McGill alumni, I'm sure our alma mater would be happy to have yet another McGillian in the House of Commons, because we've been hearing about that.
NDP
Matthew Dubé NDP Beloeil—Chambly, QC
That's fair enough.
First of all, thank you for being here, Mr. Robert. My congratulations; your accomplishments are extremely impressive.
We talk a lot about parliamentary privilege and the importance of the sovereignty of Parliament, so to speak. I am from Quebec, so I do not use that word lightly.
Recently, there has been a labour conflict involving the security officers. As a result of some legislative changes, the RCMP now has a much greater presence than previously. I am curious to hear your comments about that. How can we proceed and move forward? Despite the legislative changes made in the last Parliament, the situation is evolving a great deal.
