Evidence of meeting #33 for Procedure and House Affairs in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was bennett.
A video is available from Parliament.
1 p.m.
Speaker, Legislative Assembly of Ontario
Again that's a question for the House of Commons and the Senate and the individual legislatures to decide, recognizing that there are advantages to what you're suggesting.
1 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bardish Chagger
That's excellent.
That brings us to the end of our time together.
Madame Gaudreau.
1 p.m.
Bloc
Marie-Hélène Gaudreau Bloc Laurentides—Labelle, QC
Madam Chair, I'd like to take 20 seconds to express my discontent.
When we spoke in French, we were limited, people were talking and it was bothersome. It shouldn't be that way. Despite the excellent work of the interpreters, who I thank, not only could I not hear the witnesses' answers, unfortunately, but they could not clearly hear my questions being interpreted in the other language. I wanted to mention that.
Since the committee will be welcoming other witnesses virtually, I suggest that in the future, a test be conducted to ensure that the witnesses can hear the interpretation properly.
1 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bardish Chagger
Thank you, Ms. Gaudreau.
I have already advised the clerk and asked that he find the source of the problems. Normally, if someone doesn't have the required headset, they shouldn't appear on our screen. There's already a verification process in place, but something went wrong today. We'll find the answers to these problems and share them with our sub-committee.
With that, I just want—
1 p.m.
Conservative
Luc Berthold Conservative Mégantic—L'Érable, QC
Madam Chair, I'd like to quickly add something.
Earlier, I had a question for Mr. Bennett, but he couldn't hear it. If you remember correctly, Madam Chair, when I asked the two witnesses why members of their respective assemblies were so hesitant about the idea of adopting a hybrid formula, Mr. Bennett unfortunately had technical difficulties and couldn't answer the question. If he could send us a response in writing, we would greatly appreciate it. I don't want to ask the question again and risk having more interpretation issues.
1:05 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bardish Chagger
Yes, I have taken note of that.
We will definitely make sure that—
1:05 p.m.
Liberal
Ryan Turnbull Liberal Whitby, ON
I didn't mean to cut you off, Chair. I was just trying to get on the speakers list to raise a similar point related to this.
Obviously, we had Mr. Williamson scheduled to be here today. His quality of sound was not good enough. Could he also submit written responses to the questions that I had prepared for him? I think it's only fair that, if others can do that, I'm sure Andy Williamson should be given the same opportunity.
1:05 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bardish Chagger
Thank you for that.
On the technical issues regarding translation and so forth, we are going to make sure, first of all, to find out what happened, because it's an issue for me. It's something I take very seriously, as do all members.
We would love to hear from the Speakers who have joined us today and for them to provide us those answers. I'll ask the clerk to perhaps provide the official transcript once it's out to both of you to make sure that you can provide us any additional content, because we would like to have that.
On the point that Mr. Turnbull raised, Mr. Williamson, as we were suspended, shared that he had submitted a brief to us in writing. The clerk will confirm it. If there are follow-up questions, we have no problem sharing those, but as I said to him, yes, he is more than welcome to send more information.
I also want to repeat that we are going to see if we can have him join again before the conclusion of this study.
1:05 p.m.
Liberal
Ryan Turnbull Liberal Whitby, ON
I understand he submitted some remarks, but I had specific questions for him. Can I send those questions along to have him submit written answers to those questions? If that is the case, that's great. If he were to appear, that's even better, but I also know that the committee's schedule is tight and he may not be able to be rescheduled.
1:05 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bardish Chagger
Thank you, Mr. Turnbull. Yes, you can send them to the clerk, and I'll offer it to all members.
If you would like to send Mr. Williamson questions, they can be submitted to the clerk and the clerk will submit them to Mr. Williamson. The clerk will get back to us within, I would say, a week to confirm if Mr. Williamson is coming. Otherwise, we'll put in a deadline to providing questions, so he can respond in ample time.
With that, I hope everybody keeps well and safe, and we'll see you on Thursday.
Thank you so much to our guests.
The meeting is adjourned.