Procedure and House Affairs Committee on May 13th, 2020

[The Chair, Liberal, Ruby Sahota]

Okay, it's NDP 4, which is “That the Clerk of the House prepare and table with the committee, a report on what and in which order House of Commons proceedings are ready to be implemented virtually.”

Go ahead, Mr. Alghabra.

[Omar Alghabra, Liberal, Mississauga Centre, ON]

I have a question for clarification. Can we consider the report that the Speaker just sent to us as almost a fulfillment of this request?

[Rachel Blaney, NDP, North Island—Powell River, BC]

I considered that, but I wasn't clear. Also, the recommendation came prior to that, so that's one. I wasn't sure if it was in a confidential place. It has been given to the committee, but it's not public. I was unclear about that, so I left it there.

[Omar Alghabra, Liberal, Mississauga Centre, ON]

I have no problem with the recommendation.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ruby Sahota]

Go ahead, Madame Normandin.

[Christine Normandin, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

It's the same thing for the French version. If possible, we should replace “en ligne” by “le Parlement virtuel ”.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ruby Sahota]

Andre, you may have to check through the whole French version to make sure that's not everywhere.

Do we have agreement on the original NDP 4?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ruby Sahota]

We will go on to page 30 of the draft report.

Madame Normandin, that would be section (c), the rights and immunities section. Since we've already passed BQ 1 and BQ 2, we're only going to be looking at LIB 3 and LIB 4.

LIB 3 states:

Ensure the rights, immunities, and privileges of the House and its members.

That's generally what the whole section is about. Do we have agreement to adopt this one?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ruby Sahota]

LIB 4 states:

Ensure a consistent standard for hardware, software, and internet connectivity is available for MPs' in their constituencies paid for through the central budget.

Go ahead, Ms. Blaney.

[Rachel Blaney, NDP, North Island—Powell River, BC]

I'm in support of this one. I do just want to say that there is a recommendation, NDP 5, on page 35, and I would love to see it moved, because I see them as very comparable and similar.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ruby Sahota]

Hold on. I'll find that. I remember that one as well.

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Whitby, ON]

I think it's in the “Ensure accessibility of proceedings” section.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ruby Sahota]

Perfect. It's NDP 5 on page 35 in the English version, and it's in section (e), “Ensure accessibility of proceedings.

NDP 5 states:

That the House ensure that all Members of Parliament have access to the telecommunications infrastructure necessary to attend virtual proceedings in their constituency offices; and until that time, that Members of Parliament unable to connect to virtual proceedings in times they are necessary due to insufficient telecommunications infrastructure in their riding be compensated for travel to and provided the appropriate equipment and venue to participate in the virtual proceedings from a nearby location outside of their riding that has the necessary telecommunications infrastructure.

There are a lot of hands up.

Maybe we can amalgamate these somehow, and you guys have some suggestions.

We will go to Mr. Duncan and then Mr. Turnbull.

[Eric Duncan, Conservative, Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

On the NDP recommendation, I think it's supportable. The only thing I'd like to clarify is that, as opposed to “constituency offices”, perhaps we can say “constituency”. Some members may be very far from their office. Their home or another venue may be more appropriate, so basically that's just saying it's available in their constituencies as opposed to “constituency offices”.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ruby Sahota]

Yes, and LIB 4 has “constituencies” in it, and I think that was the thought process there, but it also refers to the central budget, so I'm wondering how that could also be included.

Go ahead, Mr. Turnbull.

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Whitby, ON]

I had flagged these as well as being very compatible. My opinion is that NDP 5 has more to it, but if we thought about combining an aspect of the LIB 4 recommendation with NDP 5 and keeping the integrity of both by combining them, I have a suggestion for the wording. The strength of the LIB 4 recommendation, from my perspective, is identifying “hardware, software, and internet connectivity” and then making sure we have “paid for through the central budget”.

If I may, I could suggest some wording. It's a bit long, but hopefully it will be well received.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ruby Sahota]

It probably has most of the wording of NDP 5, right? Should we just follow along on NDP 5, and you're going to insert something, or how is it going to work?

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Whitby, ON]

Yes, most of the changes are to the first half of NDP 5.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ruby Sahota]

We're going to jump ahead so that perhaps we can look at adopting NDP 5 and removing LIB 4.

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Whitby, ON]

I agree with Ms. Blaney that NDP 5 with an addition or amendment should be moved up. I think that's what she is saying. Right now it sits in “ensure accessibility of proceedings”. I think it's probably better suited to the previous section.

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

I have a point of order. Can someone help me find NDP 5?

[The Chair, Liberal, Ruby Sahota]

Are you on the draft version that we received the other day?

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

I'm not sure. I have version 2.